Her Deadly Neutrality
by lizathon
Summary: Amu had nothing to do with the Guardians or Easter. She was just a normal girl with four shugo charas. What will happen when she's caught between the two groups. Can her affection Tadase or passion for Ikuto cloud her judgment Amuto Rimahiko Kutau etc.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own Shugo Chara

They stood in a room and stared at a photo of a girl with pink hair and four Shugo Charas. "You know what we have to do".

"Get her on our side…at all costs", a girl replied.

_Amu's P.O.V_

_I packed my schoolbag and walked out of my room with Ran Miki Su and Dia in tow. "Have a good first day. The school is really nice", my mom said. I shrugged indifferently. I was still very upset with her for making me move again. This was the eighth time I've moved in my life and I'm only fifteen. And I actually liked where I was last time. _

"_Cheer up Amu-chan! We're only a mile from Tokyo, it's not like you're stuck in the middle of nowhere" Ran said. _

"_I sense that there are charas near here", Dia said placidly. _

"_So Amu-chan, which character are you gonna use in this school. Sporty, Artsy, Sweet, Sparkly, or Cool and Spicy?" Miki asked. I had no answer to this question, so I grunted incoherently. _

"_Cool and spicy it is", Miki said. _

"_Aww I wanted the sweet one to prevail-desu", Su said. I shook my head. Sometimes I really do wonder which part of my inner self she came from._

_Well my mom wasn't lying. The school was huge but doesn't seem like my kind of place. No one was interesting. _

Normal P.O.V

"Hinamori Amu-san?" A girl with long purple hair said as she carefully approached.

"That's me. What do you want?" Amu asked. The girl smiled, noticing the charas.

"My name Fujisaki Nadeshiko, I was directed to take you somewhere right now", she said. Amu was hesitant. This girl was extremely forward.

"I have class", Amu said standoffishly. Nadeshiko smiled, she was informed that the girl was a piece of work.

"I'm on the school's highest student council. You won't get in trouble. But I didn't think someone with your reputation would care too much for rules…But I could be wrong", Nadeshiko said. She started to walk away and she heard Amu's footsteps behind her just like she knew she would. She had been a guardian way too long not to know how these things worked.

Nadeshiko swiped her keycard to open the door to a building made of glass you couldn't see through. "This is the Royal Garden and we are the Guardians…well this is half of us", she said.

A small girl with auburn/brown hair was doing something on a laptop. "Is this her?" she asked. Nadeshiko nodded.

"Hi! I'm Yuiki Yaya but call me Yaya okay", the hyper girl said.

"Where are the others?" Nadeshiko asked. Yaya looked around.

"TADASE KUKAI, NA-CHI IS BACK!!!" the hyper girl shouted. Two extremely good looking boys appeared through sliding doors.

"That was quick", Kukai said.

"Don't sound so surprised", said a chara in a kimono as she emerged from behind Nadeshiko's ponytail.

"She has a chara Amu-chan!" Ran shouted. She was extremely happy because she hadn't seen another person's chara in years.

"We all do Amu-chan", Tadase said. "The guardians are a special student council who all has Shugo Charas. We would really appreciate if you would consider joining", he explained, giving her the world's most charming smile.

A faint blush appeared on Amu's cheeks. Tadase was so kind and princely. He noted that it was working so he stepped closer to her and kept smiling.

"Tadase is shameless", Yaya said.

"He should go into male prostitution", Kukai commented.

"He's just getting the job done", Nadeshiko said.

"Is Na-chi jealous", Yaya teased. The purple haired girl rolled her eyes at the allegation. Yaya always had a theory that there was more than friendship between her and Tadase because of their positions of King and Queen's chairs, but of course she was mistaken.

The Guardian's charas were conversing while eating snacks.

"Hi! I'm Ran and this is Miki, Su, and Dia we're Amu's charas", Ran said cheerfully.

"Hi I'm Diachi, Kukai's chara. Pepe is Yaya's. Temari is Nadeshiko's. And Kiseki over there…"

"I am the great Kiseki, the Shugo Chara king. You are all my servants!" he shouted, cutting Diachi off. Dia shot them a questioning look.

"No he's not a king. He just pretends to be. Pay him no mind", Temari said. They nodded.

Amu spent about two hours with the Guardians and she already liked all of them, but she wasn't sure about joining. They couldn't explain exactly what they did and that was a bit suspicious.

"I like them-desu", Su said.

"Kiseki is so dreamy", Miki said.

"Me and Diachi are gonna play soccer later", Ran exclaimed.

"Are you gonna become a guardian Amu-chan?" Dia asked.

"Maybe", Amu said. She was walking back to the high school when a short blonde girl with wavy hair blocked her path.

"I'm Rima. Follow me", she said with much more authority than someone of her height should.

"Hey I'm Kusu-kusu!" her clown-like chara said. Amu shrugged and walked with the girl, it was probably just another guardian.

Rima walked to a black limo with Amu two steps behind her. Amu hesitated.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"A place. Now get in", Rima responded.

"Uh are you gonna kidnap me?" Amu asked awkwardly.

"I'm 4'11, not a lesbian, and I have a boyfriend. Please don't think so highly of yourself", Rima said. At this point Amu caught on, that girl was definitely not a guardian.

"I trust her Amu-chan", Dia whispered. Amu nodded and got into the car.

The car drove them to a tall building in Tokyo city. "Easter Company. Why are we here?" Amu asked.

"You have too many questions. Just come on or walk back home", Rima snapped. She had no idea why they wanted this girl anyway when they already had her. They took an elevator to the top floor.

Rima placed her hand on a scanner.

"Welcome Rima-san and guest", said an automated voice. The door opened to reveal a lounge type setting. Three boys sat on a couch watching an unbelievably huge television and…Japan's pop idol Hoshina Utau was filing her nails in boredom.

"Nadeshiko?" Amu questioned, seeing a boy who looked exactly her.

"Ya hear that. The guardians got to her first", Utau said in annoyance.

"It was bound to happen she is in their school after all", said a boy with glasses. Amu was still staring at the boy who looked like Nadeshiko which was testing Rima's patience.

"No, I'm not Nadeshiko. My name is Fujisaki Nagihiko. This is Utau, which I'm sure you know. These two are Kairi and Ikuto. And I hope my Rima-chan didn't scare you too much", Nagi explained. Rima blushed a bit at the word my.

"And these are Musashi, Yoru, Iru, Eru and Rhythm", Kusu-kusu said, slightly glaring at Miki who was openly staring at Rhythm. Kusu-kusu failed to notice Dia who was glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

Amu looked at each of them. They reminded her so much of the guardians, only there was something ominous about them, like how the guardians seemed too nice, but in reverse. She didn't know if this was a good or if it was a warning to stay away.

"I-I'm", Amu stuttered. She always had been terrible at introductions.

"We all know who you are, Amu", said Ikuto who was somehow now behind her and was whispering in her ears. Amu turned to face him. Ikuto looked about eighteen and was exceptionally attractive. His midnight blue eyes seemed to peer into her soul. She felt like she could stare into those eyes for decades.

"Excuse me", Dia said "If Amu was in a decent state of mind right now she would ask what you people want with her". Utau smiled at how the chara stole the attention of everyone in the room. Neither Iru nor Eru could do that.

"Our purpose is to obtain the Embryo which is a Shugo egg that grants the every wish of whoever gets it. We are obtain it and deliver it to the Easter company for large amounts of money", Kairi explained.

"Millions", Rima added.

"So, you in?" Ikuto asked. Amu paused. This was the second society trying to recruit her for the day.

"I need to think it over", Amu said.

"Take all the time you need, Amu", Ikuto said, hypnotizing her with his eyes yet again.

"Call us anytime you want", Rima sweetly said, switching personalities quickly.

"But don't call Ikuto too often", Utau threatened. They all sweat dropped; Utau's brother complex was something they all learned to deal with.

"Um I won't?" Amu said, not really knowing how to respond.

The limo was in front of the building waiting to take Amu back to Seiyo. When she got back she marched straight to the Royal Garden knowing that none of them would actually be in class.

"I need answers to a couple of questions", she said.

"Okay Amu-chan", Tadase said being all charming again. Amu turned her face from him so she would be able to form a coherent sentence.

"One: Are you after the Embryo?" She asked.

"Yes", Kukai answered.

"Why", Amu asked.

"Easter plans to use it to enslave the Earth, and their agents have questionable methods of looking for it", Tadase explained. Amu was taken aback. It seemed as though these answers were rehearsed.

"Okay. Nadeshiko, who is Fujisaki Nagihiko to you?" Amu asked. Tadase, Kukai, and Yaya held their breath, this question was sure to hit a nerve.

"To me? No one, less than a stranger", Nadeshiko said coldly, a look of hatred was evident in her eyes. Amu looked around, feeling the tension in the atmosphere. She was now relieved that she hadn't promised to join either group. There were still too many things she needed to know.

A/N: No I haven't given up on Royal Animosity I just had to post this to get it out of my head. In the next chapter there will be some Amuto and some more about the characters will be revealed. Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own SC at all.

Ikuto lied idly on the couch. As the leader of his team, he should have been doing something productive like Tadase would be right now, but there really was no point. They had the dumpty key and the humpty lock. The guardians couldn't even character transform anymore.

The only reason that they were recruiting Amu was because Easter's director _suggested _it, and by suggested I mean demanded. In all honesty they could do away with the guardians at any time. But they didn't because then things would get extremely boring.

The guardians weren't always so useless though. Back when it was only Ikuto, Utau, and Kairi on their side, the situation was almost reversed. Ironically it was the petite Rima who tipped the scale in the favor of Easter.

No one exactly knew why or how but she stole the Humpty lock right out of the Royal Garden and Nagihiko joined Easter right after. Since then their team had been unstoppable.

"Ikuto! Where are you?" Utau yelled. Ikuto froze, he had two options: Lay there and let Utau rape him, or move from this comfortable spot and find something to do. He reluctantly opted for the second choice.

He flipped out of the window and into a nearby tree with agility. 'I think it's a good time to take a nap', he thought and started searching for somewhere to sleep.

Amu jumped out of bed. She was late. Again. It really didn't matter where she lived, she just simply had to be late for school at least once a week. She ran to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and hair, threw her uniform on and headed out the door.

"Run Amu-chan!" Ran cheered. Amu ran to the school and started sprinting across the front lawn as a short cut. She had four minutes left before class and she was halfway to the building. She was going to make it.

But then…she tripped over something. "What the…Ikuto?" she said. The boy was sleeping on the grass like a hobo.

"Amu", he said seductively.

"W-what are you doing here. Did you pass out or something?" she asked. She pretended to sound indifferent, but concern was evident in her voice.

"No…just escaping Utau", he said. The school bell rung.

"Damn it Ikuto, you made me late", Amu said, slightly annoyed.

"You made yourself late strawberry. But don't worry; your little prince will get you out of trouble". Ikuto said.

"I'm not that familiar with him", Amu said obstinately.

"Good. So how do you feel about joining me?" Ikuto asked. Amu blushed faintly, she knew he was talking about Easter, but it still sounded good in her ears.

"I don't know for now, I don't know enough about any of you", she explained.

"That's understandable. But Amu", he said.

"What?" she questioned.

"You're laying on me in an erotic position and the guardians are coming", he said.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto! Get away from her at once!" Tadase yelled.

"Did the pervert hurt you Amu-chi?" Yaya asked. Kukai chuckled.

"It looks like she was the one hurting him", he said. Nadeshiko was silent. Her eyes narrowed with hatred, she had more against Easter than any of the Guardians, maybe even more than Tadase.

"Get. Away. From her", Nadeshiko said with such malice in her voice that even Ikuto was shaken.

"Tadase, tell your girlfriend to control her anger", Ikuto said emotionlessly.

"She's not my girlfriend", Tadase replied a bit too quickly, but only Ikuto Kukai and Yaya noticed.

"Sure she's not", Kukai murmured sarcastically. Yaya grinned broadly; if the enemy knew your business then it was truly obvious.

Suddenly Rima appeared with Utau and Kairi. "Hmm, and I always assumed Nagi was the evil twin", she said spitefully.

"Where is Nagi anyway?" Yaya asked. She was sure he was working for Easter now, she wasn't that oblivious.

"He's smart enough not to come here", Kukai said.

"Too many questions", Utau said in agreement.

"Why are _you_ here?" Nadeshiko questioned.

"We wanted to spend some time with Amu", Rima said.

"Why would she go with you two?" Tadase asked, only acknowledging Ikuto and Rima.

"Why would she stay with you?" Ikuto questioned, entering the argument.

Utau, Kukai, Kairi, and Yaya stood there watching the argument with amused expressions on their faces; as if it were a debate they heard all too often. Amu on the other hand was freaking out.

"Why are they fighting, I didn't do anything, I can't hang out with anyone anyway. I have class!!!" Amu whined.

"It's not about you. Stop being conceited", Utau snapped.

"Don't be mean to Amu-chi you stupid bitch!" Yaya retorted.

"I'd rather be a stupid bitch than a pathetic brat like you!" Utau shouted.

"I'm Pathetic? You stalk your brother! You should be the last one in the world talking about pathetic!" Yaya yelled. And yet another argument broke out.

Tadase looked around. He knew his friends very well, and if this situation escaladed any farther, they wouldn't hesitate to fight, and neither would Ikuto's team. The only difference was, they couldn't character transform anymore. And Easter would show no mercy.

Someone once told him to choose his battles not let them choose him, and the person was right. If any of the guardians got hurt he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. It was just too bad that the person didn't know how to take his own advice.

"Let's go…It's not worth it", the blonde said.

Yaya and Nadeshiko glared angrily, but ultimately withdrew from their respective fights. Kukai was only a bit disappointed that the fight was over.

_Amu's P.O.V_

_I heaved a sigh of relief when the argument ended. Now more than ever I wanted to know what was going on. But I knew now that I couldn't ask just anyone. From what I've seen today, Nadeshiko is angry because of some deep rooted issue that everyone is too scared to mention, Kukai is nonchalant in this whole fight, and I'm sure he'd like to get with Utau, and Yaya is smarter than she originally came off as._

_I decided that if I was gonna ask anyone, it had to be Tadase. At least he seemed to know how to keep his opinions out of an explanation. Or Ikuto, because he wouldn't care enough to try and make his group look good._

_I decided that after school today I would ask Tadase what the story was and not take no for an answer. _

(After school)

_Tadase was walking with Nadeshiko, they seemed to be deep in conversation. Maybe I should just turn around and Eeep! Oh crap he saw me. _

_"Ja ne Hotori-kun", Nadeshiko said, and she left. _

_Now it was just me and Tadase. He is so cute. "Did you want to talk about something Amu-chan?" he asked. _

_"Um yea. What do you guys really have against Easter? I mean I know you guys have to fight…for the embryo, but it just seems like a bit much for just a rivalry", I explained my feelings. _

_"If you're referring to Ikuto and me, we've had a lot of negative experiences with each other prior to the rivalry", he explained. I nodded, that much made sense._

_"What about Nadeshiko and Rima? And why won't Nagihiko come here?" I asked, deciding to test my luck. Tadase sighed as if it were some long story that he hated retelling. _

_"Rima takes a special pride in getting on Nadeshiko, somewhat like with Tsukiyomi-san and as far as Nagihiko…I guess if I were him this would be the last place I'd want to be as well", Tadase said. That made me even more curious. _

_"Why is that?" I asked. _

_"The best thing would be to ask him, because I honestly have no clue what he was thinking", Tadase said. I nodded and decided not to pry any further. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. I want to know how such a seemingly agreeable person could be the root of so many problems, and I was gonna find out. _

_Tadase smiled brightly at me. "Thank you Amu-chan", he said. _

_"What?" I asked. The heat was returning to my face. _

_"I'll tell you later", he said. And then he kissed my hand. I probably looked like a tomato right now. _

_"Amu-chan. Do you have a fever? You're face is really red", he said. I think my soul just left my body like in all the shojo manga. Sigh. I can really ruin a moment. _

_A/N: That's chapter two. Let me know what pairings you want to see more of. For the record this story is in no way Tadamu. The pairings are Amuto Kutau Rimahiko Kiaya and Tadeshiko. Please review and leave your comments. _


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara (sniff sniff tear)

Ikuto was eighteen, and he's had a way with the ladies for as long as he could remember. He had a perfect strategy to get to almost any girl. So why he was asking a boy who was about three years younger than him for girl advice was beyond his understanding.

_(Ikuto's P.O.V)_

_I can't believe I'm doing this, but I can't get the strawberry out of my head. It's driving me crazy, well more so than usual. And besides that Nagihiko is a smart ass…kind of like Kairi, but unlike Kairi he used words that the average human being could understand. Also, the girly-boy did tame Rima, and that, among many other things made me respect the guy._

"_This is about that Amu girl isn't it", Nagi said. I nodded._

"_And you're worried she's going to join the guardians, and by that you really mean get with Tadase", he continued. I stared at him incredulously; did I even have to be here for this talk? _

"_Something like that", I said emotionlessly. I was waiting for his 'vast knowledge' of the guardians to slip out like it always did. Because God knows I wasn't going to ask. _

"_Even if he wants her, which I doubt, it takes Tadase a century to make a move", he said._

"_So I'm in the clear", I paraphrased "that is if I ever got interested". _

"_Not exactly. If Tadase thinks that getting with Amu-chan, will help the guardians and their cause. He will do it", damn this dude did not know how to get to the fucking point, did he?_

"_Go to her house. Sexually harass her or something, whatever you did earlier today", Nagihiko advised me. Damn I could've gone to Yoru if I wanted that kind of advice. How did he know about earlier anyway? He disappears every time we go to Seiyo. Oh wait Rima._

_Well I know where I'm about to go. _

(Amu's P.O.V)

After I got out of the shower, I wrapped my towel around myself and drank a glass of milk on my balcony. I am totally _exhausted_. After the Guardian meeting I sat in on, Nadeshiko took me shopping, and bought me a whole new wardrobe with her platinum credit card. I had no idea she was so rich. Then again I should've guessed it; everyone at Seiyo was a bit privileged.

After that, Rima took me to one of Utau's concerts. It was awesome! Her new album is gonna be a hit. I can't believe I know Hoshina Utau!!!

"Today was fun Amu-chan!" Ran cheered.

"I loved shopping with Nadeshiko. She has awesome taste", Miki said.

"But Utau's songs were amazing. She was so sparkling", Dia said with stars in her eyes. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about her slight obsession with Utau. But I wouldn't worry about that now. All I wanted to do is sleep. I lied on the bed in my towel, too tired to even change into my PJ's.

"You know, you'll get sick if you go to sleep like that, Amu", an all too familiar voice said.

"Leave me alone Ikuto", I said sleepily. It took a moment to process what was going on. "IKUTO!!! What the hell! Why are you in my freaking bedroom?" I yelled, throwing pillows at him.

He dodged them easily and made it to my bed in two quick strides. "I only wanted to say goodnight", he said, bringing his face close to mine.

My heart was racing; his lips were only centimeters from mine. I know I should pull away, but I can't. He was like a magnet, no stronger, an ultraviolet ray. I couldn't escape him so I decided to give in to whatever he did.

(Normal P.O.V)

Ikuto was shocked. He'd expected Amu to scream and start flailing as usual, but she just sat there. With any other girl he would seize this opportunity and be that much less bored for a couple minutes, but this girl was different. He felt something for her. She was so innocent and fragile.

He pecked her lips softly. "Nite strawberry", he said and then he disappeared into the night.

Amu touched her lips. She realized that she put herself in a position to be taken advantage of, yet Ikuto didn't take it. That has to mean something. Dia who had been up the whole time giggled. "Amu-chan has a boyfriend…or two", she said.

The next morning before school Amu walked into the Royal Garden hoping t get some breakfast. They were all used to her walking in by this point. To her surprise, none of the Guardians were there. She turned to leave but before she did, she noticed a pink keycard on the table with Hinamori Amu: Joker on it in fancy script.

Amu shook her head. They really didn't understand the idea of neutrality. Next to the card was a note that read

'_Take the elevator in the back of the room. Yes Amu, there is one. When you get to the bottom swipe the keycard at the door, sincerely the Guardians'._

Amu followed the notes directions and found herself in what looked like a secret headquarters in a Spy movie.

"All this and yet the school doesn't have an art wing", Miki said.

"So she did find it", said Kukai who was throwing a series of complex weapons at targets with the Easter agent's faces glued to them.

"She's not an idiot like you Kukai", Yaya teased, only slightly glancing up from a supercomputer.

"Well you can call anyone an idiot miss girl genius", Kukai said.

"What did I miss?" Nadeshiko asked walking out of the built in dojo in a gi. Amu didn't fail to notice her black belt or more so the double edged Naginata she held as casually as the average girl held a purse. Amu then made a mental note to never get on Nadeshiko's bad side.

"Wait, wait what is all this?" Amu asked. Tadase smiled at her.

"You see Amu-chan, after the humpty lock, the source of our character transformations was stolen by Easter we had to learn real fighting styles and weaponry to combat them", he explained.

"Resourceful", Amu said, though she knew next to nothing about combat or strategies in general.

"It's a group effort. Yuiki-san's develops the devices for freeing the captured hearts eggs, Souma-kun does armed and unarmed combat, Fujisaki-san is our martial arts expert, and I mostly strategize", Tadase explained.

"Nagi was better at it", said Yaya, earning annoyed glances from both Nadeshiko and Tadase. She knew it would happen, but that didn't stop her.

"He was though. Why do you think Easter's winning now?" Kukai said.

"At least Tadase isn't a traitor", Nadeshiko said in the icy tone she used every time Nagihiko was mentioned.

Tadase cleared his throat. "On a brighter note, Hinamori-san still hasn't chosen what her specialty will be", he said.

"W-what specialty? I'm not even a Guardian yet!" Amu screeched. It was way too early for them to find out she was useless.

"So you're just gonna keep freeloading off of us", Diachi said.

"Yea, you got a problem with that?" Ran exclaimed.

"We'll settle this on the soccer field", Diachi declared. The rest of the charas sweat dropped. This was how stereotypes were formed.

The Easter agents faced a dire plague: Total and complete boredom. There was no competition anymore. They were just waiting for the embryo to make an appearance which it wasn't because no one on either side could purify a friggin X-egg.

"Let's collect some X-eggs or something", Ikuto said.

"Yeah, whatever", Utau said, the boredom took her out of obsessive sister mode.

"Sure, lets mess with Guardians", Rima said. Nagi and Kairi shrugged. They got off the couch. Before leaving Rima put on the humpty lock necklace. That would be sure to piss Nadeshiko off, and pissing Nadeshiko off was her second favorite pastime. The first being making out with Nagi.

Back with the Guardians, Ran and Diachi were in the middle of their soccer tournament when…

"Amu-chan, I sense something painful happening. Like Shugo Charas crying", Dia said.

"X-eggs, Easter is turning people's heart's eggs into X-eggs", Tadase said.

"No, it can't be them. None of them would do anything like that", Amu said. She pictured Utau singing heartfelt song to her fans, and Rima and Nagihiko when they looked at each other, and Kairi just being smart and inconspicuous, and especially the gentle way Ikuto kissed her. There was no way they could possibly do anything so cruel.

"If you don't believe us, come see it for yourself. They're monsters", Nadeshiko said. Kukai flinched; Utau wasn't a monster, at least not all the time.

"Amu-chan", Miki whispered "Are you sure you want to know?" The pinkette nodded. She _had _to know.

The guardians (plus the indecisive freeloader) made their way to the park where the Easter agents were collecting X-eggs.

"What…how are they…" Amu searched for the right way to express her question. Her being distracted by Ikuto's revealing charanari was the biggest problem.

"They character transformed", Yaya explained.

"What is that?" Amu questioned.

"They didn't tell you? It's basically becoming the power of your would be self" said Kairi as he stepped forward. Yaya rolled her eyes.

"Probably because they can't do it", Utau said. Amu couldn't help but stare. They all looked so powerful like transformations in a shojo manga.

"Like what you see strawberry?" Ikuto asked. He took her hand and placed it on his toned chest. "You can do it too. When you're with us", Ikuto whispered softly. Amu was frozen again. Ikuto truly was her forbidden fruit.

"Unhand her Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" Tadase shouted. Rima chuckled darkly.

"Unhand her? What is this, the seventeen hundreds?" she asked.

"No, the Americans chased your kind with pitchforks back then", Nadeshiko snapped. All the guardians, even Tadase, the most respectful of them had to laugh at Rima's expense.

"And yet 'my kind' stole the humpty lock and a member of the guardians from right under you. If you weren't such a mediocre queen's chair neither of those things would've happened. To be honest, you made it way too easy for me", Rima said.

"This is about to get ugly", Kukai said.

"Yep", Utau confirmed. They glanced at each other awkwardly.

"You want to go get some ramen or something?" Kukai asked. Utau shrugged. The two slipped away, unnoticed.

Amu's eyes locked with Nagihiko, who had been trying to be extremely inconspicuous. The story was beginning to become clearer to her. She felt a wave of sympathy for him. It must've been hard watching Nadeshiko and Rima fight, and harder having Nadeshiko hate him.

"And to be honest, you're nothing more than a thief. You don't have anything you didn't steal. Where do you come from anyway? It's like you had nothing to start with", Nadeshiko said. If looks could kill, both these girls would be 25 feet under.

"If you want the lock back so badly, fight me for it", Rima challenged.

"We don't have time for this Rima", Ikuto said. He knew that Amu wasn't ready to see the gruesome part of their job yet, and didn't want to scare.

Nadeshiko glared at Rima as she walked away with the others. Tadase rested a hand on her shoulder. "Try to let it go", he advised.

"Already gone", she replied.

"Sure believe that", Yaya muttered sarcastically. She didn't need much insight to know what was coming next.

A/N: The next chapter will be very…shall we say interesting. Definitely some Rimahiko and Kutau in it, and a bit of Tadeshiko. Btw did anyone read Shugo Chara Encore yet. The first chapter was Kutau.


	4. Chapter 4

Amu's P.O.V

_Back in the Royal Garden, I sat between Tadase and Yaya sipping a cup of tea and munching on a brownie. It was so good! Kukai left sometime during the fight. I think he's out with Utau and Nadeshiko…where is that girl anyway? I just realized there were always five chairs, even before I came. That meant…_

"_Nagihiko was really a guardian", I said in realization. Tadase nodded slowly._

"_So how did-" I started to ask. _

"_Rima", Tadase said. _

"_They fell in love like in Romeo and Juliet…only they didn't die. I wish Yaya could be in love like that, oh well. So yea he basically ditched all of us. It's kinda a sensitive topic for Na-chi though", Yaya explained. A very disturbing thought entered my mind. _

"_Did Nadeshiko…love him?" Amu questioned. The small girl's eyes widened. _

"_You mean like Utau…no way. They were just really close being twins and all", Yaya explained. I nodded in relief. I was finally getting the picture here. _

"_Mou Tadase, let's take Amu-chan to the weapons room!" Yaya said excitedly. _

"_Good idea Yuiki-san", Tadase said and they dragged me through the doors that weren't supposed to exist._

Normal P.O.V

Rima walked in the woods outside Seiyo high school…alone. She knew that Nadeshiko would find her and try to take the humpty lock no matter what Tadase said. The girl was prideful. Even Nagi said that Nadeshiko's pride was going to kill her someday, and if everything went as Rima planned that day would be sooner than he predicted.

Nadeshiko jumped through the treetops with her Naginata strapped to her back. She finally located her target. The voice of reason, which suspiciously happened to sound a lot like Tadase told her to turn around, but she didn't.

This girl had done too much, Nadeshiko wanted retribution. Too many hearts eggs have been darkened and destroyed and the Guardians desperately needed the humpty lock back if they were to stand a chance against Easter.

Usually Nadeshiko fought fairly, so a sneak attack was something completely new to her. Still she flipped down from the treetops with ninja –like stealth and sliced Rima's back with her sword.

The blonde released a surprised yelp as the blood started to pour from the gash.

"Rima", Kusu-kusu said worriedly.

"Bitch", Rima cursed.

"It's good on me huh?" Nadeshiko said smugly. She pinned the smaller girl down and yanked the lock from her neck. It felt warm against her palm like it was supposed to be there. Nadeshiko turned to leave the chibi devil who was so sure she would get the best of her.

Rima glared at the purple haired girl. Though she hated to, she had planned ahead in case something like this happened. She pulled a silver gun from her pocket. When she first joined Easter and everyone thought she was a weak little girl, Kairi gave it to her and told her to keep it with her in case she was ever in trouble.

She aimed the shot at Nadeshiko's back. It hit her shoulder, but given the current circumstances, Rima was lucky it hit at all.

_Nadeshiko's P.O.V_

_I finally did it! The humpty lock once again belongs to the guardians. I can't wait to see the look on Tadase's face when…OUCH WHAT THE HELL! The pain was blazing through my right shoulder, and slowly spread down my arm and to my chest. I looked back and saw the chibi devil smirking in triumph._

_That short bitch really shot me?! And what was she smirking at; I mean her aim was terrible. I continued to walk and my vision got blurry, I was starting to feel really weak too. Was I losing that much blood?_

"_Nadeshiko! Are you okay?" Temari asked. I nodded; my chara was so sweet when she wasn't trying to kill people. "I just got to make it back to the Royal Garden", I told her. Temari smiled I knew she planning something._

"_Chara Change!" she said, giving me the strength to keep going._

_Normal P.O.V_

In the secret sanctum of the Royal Garden, Amu watched in awe as Tadase and Yaya worked. Suddenly a swish was heard from upstairs. "Maybe Kukai and Nade-chi are back", Yaya said.

"Or it could be another student. And it would be very unfortunate if one of them ended up down here", Tadase said logically.

"Yea", Amu said in agreement. The trio took the elevator back upstairs to find Nadeshiko lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

"N-Na-chi", Yaya stuttered with tears in her eyes.

"Fujisaki-san", Tadase said kneeling next to the girl. He picked her up in his arms. "Amu-chan, open the door. And Yaya-chan, please pull yourself together" he ordered. Both girls were shocked that he had the strength to carry Nadeshiko bridal style.

Back downstairs Yaya ran an analysis on the bullet, and Tadase placed Nadeshiko on a couch while Amu…was utterly useless.

"This makes no sense, why would anyone want to hurt _my _Nadeshiko", Tadase ranted. Amu paused, making a note to question their relationship later.

"The bullet was laced with poison, but it's not deadly, she just needs to rest. And it had initials on it. R.M", Yaya said solemnly. If Tadase didn't hate Rima to begin with, he definitely did now. But despite of that, he knew that she would never resort to those tactics unless…properly provoked.

Amu palled considerably. The Rima she knew surely wasn't capable of attempted murder.

"S-she must have had a reason. It was p-probably an accident", the pinkette stuttered. But even she knew how weak the excuse sounded.

Tadase's eyes burned with rage. "I don't give a shit what reason she had! To shoot Nadeshiko is unforgivable especially after the time we spared that rat because of…but it doesn't matter, he's a traitor. He probably watched that demon shoot her. Probably gave her the gun", the blonde king's chair said, the venom in his tone increasing with each word.

"T-Tadase is scary~desu!" Su exclaimed fearfully.

"WAHHH!" Pepe whined. Tadase heaved a sigh of regret.

"Gomen minna, I lost my temper for a second", he said, bowing respectfully.

"I'm gonna text Kukai", Yaya said. She hated moments like this, where her friends were hurting and she couldn't do anything.

Nadeshiko stirred and the humpty lock, which had been clutched in her right hand, fell to the ground. The purple haired girl reached to the ground to pick it up. She glanced up to see six eyes fixated on her.

Amu was mesmerized by the lock; she hadn't seen it aside from around Rima's neck. It was truly beautiful. Yaya was also captivated by it. It had been too long since she last character transformed, and every inch of her yearned for it.

Tadase was the Guardians king's chair. This should've been the greatest victory for him, but it wasn't. You would have no conception of how he felt unless your best friend was shot getting something you constantly whined about.

"Amu-chan, I think Tadase and Na-chi need to talk", Yaya said. With that, she and Amu left the room, knowing the perfect spot to press their ears to the wall.

Nadeshiko noticed the portentous aura coming from the blonde. 'I'm in trouble', she thought, and she was right.

"What were you thinking?! I told you not to go fight Rima for a reason, and how could you go behind everyone's backs?" he yelled.

"Why are you yelling at me Tadase? I got the lock back, there's no pleasing you", she said tiredly.

"I care about you more than some stupid lock Nadeshiko! I could've lost you!" Tadase shouted "I-I mean all of us…the guardians. We're utterly useless without you", he corrected himself realizing the implications of the previous comment.

Nadeshiko rested her head on his chest. "G-gomen nasai Tadase-kun", she said. Tadase twitched; he would not lose his resolve over one small gesture, no matter how cute he found it.

Nadeshiko sniffled softly and Tadase felt her warm tears seeping through his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back gently. The girl had such a hold on him, it almost wasn't fair. Nadeshiko smirked, Tadase was way too easy.

"Tadase", she whispered.

"hmm", the kings chair asked.

"We need to get the humpty lock out of here before Easter comes", she said.

A/N: this is the 1st half of this chapter. It would be too long if I put the whole thing here, plus I really wanted to update! Hope you enjoy minna. Review please!!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I Don't own SC T.T

Ikuto was bored. There were no surprises there. He was almost always bored, except when with a certain pink haired girl. Utau wasn't home…thankfully. Rima was out harassing Nagi's sister, Nagihiko was on his facebook and Kairi was reading a book. Ikuto sighed, his team was so boring.

The nanosecond he considered getting up in search of an ever entertaining strawberry head, a certain petite blonde stumbled through the door. Blood was gushing from a wound on her back. Ikuto shook head. It was bound to happen eventually if she kept playing with fire.

Though he knew it was the wrong way to think, he couldn't help but smirk…at least he wasn't bored anymore.

"Rima-chan! Rima-chan, what happened?" Nagihiko asked frantically as he cradled the small girl to his chest.

"T-they took the h-humpty lock", the blonde said weakly.

"This is troublesome", Kairi said.

Nagihiko looked stole a glance at the deep gash before wrapping it in gauze. He only knew of one weapon that could make a slash that distinctive. A Naginata. To be more exact, the Naginata that he gave to Nadeshiko years prior. He knew it, but thought that if there was any justice left in the world he would be wrong.

"Rima-chan…who did this?" he asked, praying that she would lie to him.

"N-Nadeshiko", she whispered before blacking out completely. Nagihiko shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. He understood very well the feeling of betrayal, and the fact that his sister wanted him dead. Sure it was tough in the beginning, but he got used to it eventually.

He had promised Rima that he would always protect her, that he would never let her get hurt. Sister or not, Nadeshiko made him break his promise. And the girl said it herself that she considered them less than strangers.

"We're getting the lock back", Ikuto said, turning to Nagi. Not that getting the lock meant much to him, but where the lock was the guardians, and where the guardians were Amu was. And whether he chose to acknowledge it or not, getting Amu_ did_ mean a lot to him.

"Kairi, stay with Rima in case there's more wrong with her. I'll call Utau", Ikuto said. Kairi was shocked that Ikuto was actually competent as a leader, and even more shocked that Ikuto expected Nagi to waltz into the Royal Garden. Nagi was shocked that he didn't object to it this time, maybe because this time he wasn't the one at fault.

A little Ramen shop in Tokyo was extremely short staffed. And that was peculiar for the fact that there were only two people in the restaurant. Utau and Kukai had challenged each other to the ultimate ramen challenge…five bowls of soy sauce noodles, ten miso, and four large orders of butter noodles.

Kukai watched the girl in amusement. She was already on her seventh miso. "Is it alright for a girl to eat that much?" he asked. Utau glared at him, but it was more playful than threatening.

"I can and will eat as much as I want you sexist pig", she retorted. Kukai grinned, he would have taken her much more seriously if she didn't slurp up a noodle right after.

"Hey Utau, why didn't we ever hang out before?" he questioned, after finishing off his bowl. She actually gave it some thought. All she came up with was that they should do it more often.

"I really don't know. It's just…hold on my phone is ringing", the blonde pop star said. Kukai eyed the girl once over wondering why he never asked her out before.

"HII IKUTO!!!" she gushed into the phone. Kukai rolled his eyes. It was all coming back to him now. An obvious brother complex was something of a turn off to teenage boys. Almost instinctively, Kukai picked up his own cell phone. He had ten unread text messages from Yaya. He rolled his eyes wondering what the girl could have possibly wanted this time.

"_Utau, listen to me. Rima is hurt, it doesn't look good. The humpty lock was stolen by kiddy king's girlfriend. Meet me and Nagi in front of the guardians little clubhouse in ten. We're getting that lock back" _

"Wait Ikuto what!" Utau said, only to hear a dial tone. The lazy bum had hung up on her…again.

The pop star was livid. How could anyone think of hurting Rima? She was tiny! A heavy wind could knock her over! And it was those damn guardians' fault. She wanted to strangle them. Especially…no especially nothing! All of them!!!

"Is everything okay?" Kukai asked. Utau shot him the evilest look she could muster. He was one of them.

"Leave me alone you jerk!" she demanded in a disdainful tone. She ran out of the restaurant. She liked Kukai, but hated the guardians. As long as he was one of them, she could never be with him. If he pulled a Nagi and switched sides everything would be fine, but something told her it would take a miracle for that to happen.

Kukai was stunned. How could one girl be so bipolar? One phone call from Ikuto, and he became the oppressor. Only then did it occur to him to check his texts. After reading the third one, his phone fell to the floor.

Nadeshiko got shot!!!???!?!?!?!?! By that chibi blonde!!! And from the way that Utau rushed out, Easter was planning a follow up attack. He had to warn the other guardians. But he was on the other side of town from Seiyo!

"Start running baka!" Diachi said. Kukai smirked, knowing that his chara was only worried about Ran.

Nadeshiko sat up from her place leaned against Tadase. "They're going to come for the lock pretty soon", she said.

"You shouldn't be moving right now", he said, sounding concerned. Nadeshiko still had a slight fever due to the 'little surprise' in Rima's bullet, and besides that she'd lost too much blood and could barely stand up.

"I'm fine. Really", she said, putting on a smile.

Tadase shook his head. He had known her way too long to believe that. According to Nadeshiko, she was always 'fine' even when she was obviously in pain.

Nadeshiko sighed and held the lock out to the blonde boy. "Take it and get somewhere fast", she ordered.

Tadase sighed. If he wasn't such a nice person, he would glare at the girl. Was she out of her damn mind? "I'm not leaving you here Nade, not on my life", he said evenly.

"Yes, a king must always protect his loyal commoners!" Kiseki added.

"Was that you trying to say something nice?" Temari questioned. The king chara crossed his arms and turned away, not wanting to let Temari see him blush.

"Get some rest Nade-chan, we'll figure something out", Tadase assured her.

When Tadase walked out of the room, Yaya who had been eavesdropping pounced on him and Amu followed in suit.

"Tadase is so protective over Na-chi it's cute!" Yaya squealed as she continued to squeeze him. Tadase looked at Yaya with weary eyes. As usual the younger girl failed to grasp the gravity of the situation.

Suddenly a sweaty and utterly exhausted Kukai rushed through the doors. "Is Nade alright?" he asked.

"She'll live", Yaya said.

"That's good but we have a problem. Ikuto, Utau, and Nagihiko are on their way here to get the lock back", Kukai explained.

"Why? We just got it back. That's unfair!" Yaya whined.

"No shit. What do we do about it?" Kukai asked. Yaya crossed her arms and actually started to think. 'What would Kairi do?' a little voice in her head questioned. Somewhere along the line, she decided to make Easter's boy genius her personal rival. Not that he had a clue about it.

"I've got it! I've got it! Yaya is a genius! Yaya is a genius!" she sang while happy dancing.

"What is it Yuiki-san?" Tadase asked, and almost instantly regretted it.

"We'll give the lock to Amu-chi because Ikuto-kun would never let anyone attack her. It's just like when Rima took it the first time, when Nagi was still a guardian", the girl explained.

"W-what! I'm still neutral!" the pinkette screeched.

"The grace period is over~dechu", Pepe said. Tadase looked at Amu with the kind ruby eyes that no one could ever say no to.

"Please Amu-chan. We would all appreciate it so much".

Amu shook her head in dismay. It wasn't the fact that she was getting played that bothered her, but the fact that she KNEW she was getting played but went along with it anyway.

"Fine I'll do it", she said taking the lock from Tadase.

A/N: YAY another cliffie!!! Read and review please!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own SC

Amu's P.O.V

Ok. So Kukai and Yaya basically dragged me out of the Royal Garden. Tadase stayed with Nadeshiko, which I get. And Kukai and Yaya are trying to get the humpty lock as far away from Easter as possible, which was also understandable. The only thing that I'm not getting is WHY THIS FRIGGIN LOCK IS AROUND MY NECK! Shouldn't it be with Tadase or something?

Oh wait, Tadase…it's all coming back to me now. When he looks at me with those pleading eyes, well, it all goes downhill from here. "Hey Yaya, does Tadase like Nadeshiko?"

"No…no no. Tadase likes you", she answered carefully. I knew that Yaya definitely had more to say, but there was no time left to ask her. The looming presences of Ikuto and Utau stood before them.

"Amu", Ikuto said, taking a step forward.

"Y-yes Ikuto" I stammered. I was still hiding behind Kukai, unable to face him.

"Don't be so damn soft, Ikuto. You saw what they did to Rima" Utau said. Then her gaze turned to me. "Hinamori, I'm not like the rest of them. If you don't give me the lock and come with us now, I will treat you just as the rest of them". I gulped.

Yaya was livid. "What we did to Rima? She deserves it. What happened to what YOU did to Nadeshiko, and the X-eggs and everybody else in the world!" she exploded. I stepped out from behind Kukai.

"Wait a minute. Rima is hurt too?" I asked.

"No shit", Utau said. This definitely changed things. Nagihiko was definitely as worried about Rima as Tadase was about Nadeshiko. It's amazing how hypocritical people can be. They did the exact same thing, but they're all ranting on and on about how unfair everything was.

"Is Rima okay", I asked. Now I was getting kind of scared.

"I'll tell you when you give me the lock. Amu, you can't play both sides anymore", Utau said her tone cold.

"Just give it a rest Utau", Kukai said. They glared at each other angrily.

"Amu", Ikuto called again. Whenever he said my name like that, it sent a shiver up my spine. This time his face was only centimeters from mine. "What do you choose? Me or Tadase, the Guardians or Easter".

Everyone's eyes fell on me, hard, cold. But Ikuto's were patiently waiting. The truth was, that I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't agree with Easter's way of doing things, but I loved all of them like family. I felt the same way about all the guardians. But when they started fighting like this, it scared me. So much.

Then I got it. What I wanted right now was to escape everything, I wanted to run. "Amu-chan, you can't run. So why don't you jump!" Ran shouted.

"Atashi wa kokoro UNLOCK! Charanari Amulet Heart!" A bright light flashed, and it felt like Ran was inside of me. I looked down. When did I change clothes! I looked like a cheerleader!

"Ran! What did you do?"

"You said you wanted to get out Amu-chan", my pink chara said. I nodded and with a hop, step, and a jump I made my great escape.

End of P.O.V

Tadase stroked Nadeshiko's hair fondly as the girl slept curled up in his lap. He loved the peaceful look on her face when she slept. When she wasn't worried about anything, which mind you wasn't too often. He wished she was always like that…just the peace though, not the unconsciousness.

A noise came from upstairs. Tadase carefully moved Nadeshiko, as not to wake her up, and went up to investigate. No amount of annoyance can describe how he felt when his eyes fell upon Nagihiko.

Nagihiko, the person he once considered a brother. The person who betrayed the Guardians to their worst enemies, who he now hated almost as much as the black cat of misfortune himself. The person who had the nerve to stroll into the royal garden as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Only he didn't seem not to have a care in the world. Actually it seemed to be the complete opposite. Tadase could not remember ever seeing the mild mannered boy look so pissed off.

"Where's Nadeshiko?" Though only two words were spoken, a monologue worth of resentment was behind them. Tadase made a mental not that sounding angry and indifferent at the same time was in fact a Fujisaki family trait.

"If you came here just to aggravate her-" the blonde said. There was a slight edge to his voice that usually only appeared when he was talking to Ikuto. He mentally cringed when he realized how rude he sounded, but he really had no intention of letting this boy come anywhere near Nadeshiko. Especially not in her current state.

"I don't recall asking your permission. I just asked where she is. And by the way your face tensed up, I can safely say that she is somewhere around here", Nagihiko said.

Tadase blocked his path. "Leave. Now" he said, all of his princely-ness intact. Nagihiko narrowed his eyes.

"Tadase, you are beginning to get on my nerves. My nerves are a place where someone as weak as you does not want to get. Now get your ass out of my way before I snap your neck".

Tadase was shocked. Obviously Nagi had been taking lessons in intimidation from Ikuto. But still the king's chair wouldn't back down. What kind of crappy king would he be if he did not protect his precious queen? Or at least try to until Nagihiko decided to go through with his threats.

"What right do you have to see Nadeshiko?" Tadase asked, thinking he would play the psychological card for awhile and buy some time to think of a plan.

"I'm her older brother"

"Oh really", a third voice said. And in walked a Nadeshiko. She managed to look like she hadn't almost bled to death only a half hour ago, and honestly shouldn't be moving right now.

"Because the only older brother I acknowledge having is Kukai…And he doesn't seem to be here right now", she said in an innocent, looking around for dramatic effect. This greatly added to Nagihiko's annoyance. His beloved Rima-chan had come home half dead, and not only did her aggressor not appear to be hurt, but also had the nerve to be sarcastic!

"Now what could possibly want with my life?" Nadeshiko asked, as if the whole situation was completely boring and tedious to her.

"What you did to Rima with the Naginata I got you is completely unforgivable!"

To everyone's surprise, Nadeshiko did not explode, nor did she mercilessly try to claw her twin's eyes out. "Should you really play the unforgivable card with me Nagihiko? Would that be a smart choice on your end?" she asked in more controlled mock innocence.

"You could have killed her", the long haired boy said with malice in his voice. Nadeshiko shrugged.

"Yes, Nagihiko, I could have killed her; just like how I could have killed her last time, and the time before that. Why I didn't? Because I have something called self control, unlike your blonde chibi devil who would kill any of us with no qualms…If she could that is. And I'd bet any money that you wouldn't bat a pretty little eyelash if that were to happen. Isn't that right _Nii-chan_? Or should I say _former Jack's chair_?" The girl recited, as if reading a script. You could almost see angry flames in her eyes.

"Hell hath no fury like a sister scorned", Temari whispered to Kiseki. The king chara nodded in agreement.

Nagihiko was rendered speechless. At least now he knew what his sister was thinking during the two years she refused to talk to him, unless giving a death threat of course.

Luckily for him, the glass door swung open once again. In walked Ikuto. The guardians really needed to get better locks. "Yo purple head we're going. Amu character transformed and ran with the lock", he said. The cat-boy wonder gave Tadase a hateful glare and then left with Nagi.

Tadase thought of a plan on how to get Amu back when he heard a small whimper. "Hotori-kun", Nadeshiko said, her voice barely above a whisper. His eyes turned to the girl. "I'm going to faint… (3…2…1) now", and faint she did. Naturally Tadase caught her, and naturally he would have to worry about Amu later.

Amu still sat atop the roof, her charas around her. She was sulking. "Amu-chan. Easter is wrong, you know that. Right?" Ran asked. Amu nodded wearily. Getting the full picture of the X-egg situation she was sure of it.

"But there's no future for you and Tadase. It would last a couple years at most", Miki said. The pink haired girl nodded again, knowing that as well.

"That doesn't mater~desu. Wrong is wrong, and if Ikuto really cares about her he's understand that~desu!" Su exclaimed. Amu was too emotionally drained to nod anymore so she blinked her eyes in response.

"There is a difference between right in general and right for Amu-chan", Dia added.

"Yea", Miki said backing her up.

"Please, you two are only in it for Rhythm and Yoru", Ran shouted.

"So? We all know you have something with Diachi", Miki argued.

Amu rubbed her temples, so much for her charas giving semi-useful advice. It was all for selfish reasons…She sighed, even her charas had better love lives than her.

Rima's P.O.V

When Nagi came home I read his eyes, it was a special talent of my eyes. I saw confusion, sadness, anger, guilt, and then a lot more guilt. I shook my blonde curls out of my eyes. This could only mean one thing…Nadeshiko.

Let me make one thing clear: I hate Nadeshiko. I hate everything about her, but she's Nagi's sister. And he still loves her, and she hates him because of me. So whenever he went into his emo corner, I was the one who had to drag him out.

"Nagi, what's the matter", I asked using my doe eyes, as if I didn't know already.

And of course he says "Nothing Rima-chan" Am I good or what?

He kissed my forehead "You should be sleeping", he told me. I rolled my eyes; must he lecture me when I am trying to have a moment?

"Don't fight with Nadeshiko", I told him. He glanced at me incredulously. My vocabulary has improved considerably since we started going out.

"Why?"

"Because her ass is mine", I said proudly.

"Okay Rima-chan", he said with a laugh. I smiled because I love his laugh; I'm just a sap like that sometimes. "Now go to sleep", he ordered, and kissed me once more.

I sighed and watched him go. I let him think it was my pride, for the sake of his. Fighting his sister made him sad. People like Nagi should never be sad, because then people like me want to set things (and people) on fire.

I remain a hard ass, because…well because that's my thing okay. No questions. But that boy has no idea how much I love him. (But if you tell him, I'll kill you)

A/N: Hope yall liked. Read and review please!!!! And I'll try to start updating faster!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I dont own SC

Utau's P.O.V

So it's been about two weeks since our last experience with the guardians. Rima was doing better, thankfully. Nagi stopped moping, Kairi is…well he's Kairi, and Ikuto is still never around. Now that I think about it I don't really mind that as much as I would've a few weeks ago.

I'm just so glad I don't have to see that damn irritating Souma kid. He's just always so (insert insulting adjective of your choice here). I walked up to the Easter headquarters after my concert. I'm so tired, I just want to lie on the couch and watch some….

Did someone just walk outside with my flat screen T.V? "Hey! Where are you going with my gag manga?!" Rima yelled as more men loaded her collection onto a truck.

"What the hell! Put my computer down! Watch the equipment" Kairi exclaimed as they took his things away as well.

Ikuto and Nagihiko stood outside looking more annoyed than anything. I mean it's like one in the morning.

"What the hell is going on?" I yelled at one of the suits.

"Easter buildings been bought out. Gotta move your stuff somewhere", he said. This was news to all of us. Easter was one of the world's largest companies. Who could possibly buy them out, especially at their Tokyo location?

"This makes no sense", Kairi said.

"Put our crap down!" Rima demanded. The guy shrugged.

"It stays here until you tell us where to go, but I suggest you take it up with the higher ups", the man said.

"Oh, we definitely will", I said.

We took the elevator to the office floor, about to march into director Hoshina's office to give him a piece of our minds…and a foot to the face in my case. Suddenly Sanjou-san stopped us.

"You don't want to see him right now. I am telling you", she said. I noticed the bottle of sake in her hand and realized how she managed not to strangle him.

"Nee-chan", Kairi said with a sigh. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're being evicted here". Yukairi scratched her head.

"Well that is a problem. You and Utau can stay at my house", she said. I sighed, sometimes she was really idiotic.

"What about the rest of them?" I asked. A look crossed her face. It was a mixture of confusion and sympathy.

"Don't you all have homes? Relatives to visit or something"

"Runaway", Rima explained.

"Crack family…no offense Utau", Ikuto said.

"None taken".

"It's…complicated", Nagihiko told her. The woman shook her head sadly.

"It's gonna take us about two weeks to relocate everything. I could try to book you hotel rooms but it's gonna be pricy. The company wouldn't be able to compensate you right away". This is where big red lights started to go off. Since when could EASTER corporations not pay for five teens to stay in a five star hotel?

"Is Easter losing money?" Nagihiko asked. I love that kid, wait can I really call him a kid when he's only a year younger than me…oh well.

Sanjou-san fidgeted uncomfortably under Nagi's piercing gaze. Did I mention how much I love that kid? "It's not my place to comment on that. But isn't there anywhere?" she asked.

"What's the big deal we can crash in the trees-nya", Yoru said.

"Right", Ikuto agreed.

"It will prove our samurai strength!" Musashi declared.

"Cool! We're roughing it!" Rhythm said.

"Eww there's gonna be dirt", Eru cried.

"Suck it up bitch", Iru said as she abused her.

"The woods aren't funny what if we get eaten", Kusu-kusu said with worry etched upon her face.

"No one's gonna get eaten", I interjected.

"Nope, because I'll protect the ladies, right Nagi!" Rhythm said.

Suddenly Nagihiko seemed to have an epiphany. "Well…my family owns this beach estate in Osaka. They don't really go there that much so it's free now", he said.

Rima gave him a death glare. Well I haven't seen one of those in a while. "We were talking about sleeping in the woods and you have a friggin beach house?"

"Beach estate", Ikuto corrected with a sly smirk on his face.

"Then why are we still standing here. I want to go back to sleep. Nagi where is this place?" Rima asked impatiently.

"Okay Rima-hime", he said, and they walked outside hand in hand. I rolled my eyes as Kairi and I followed in suit. Sometimes the Rimahiko pairing was disgusting. Their PDA isn't even making out. It's real affection. What the hell is that about?

"Aren't you coming?" I asked Ikuto. He nodded.

"Yea I'll meet you guys later", he said and started walking…in the opposite direction. Did I mention that a little piece of my heart followed him? But I know he trampled on it on the way out. Sigh-I think I'm actually over it by now.

(End of P.O.V)

Amu sat on her bed doing her homework (At the last minute of course). There was a knock on her window. She rolled her eyes knowing immediately who it was. She wondered why she even bothered to latch it anymore.

"What do you want Ikuto?" she asked tiredly.

"Hey Amu", he said. He looked at her for a long time, his eyes scanning up and down her body. Amu was entranced for a moment but then…

"Stop undressing me with your eyes you pervert!" she screeched, flailing her hands frantically. Ikuto sighed. He flicked her forehead.

"You're such a kid Amu. I was just getting a good look at you", he said.

"Why would you need to do that? You're ALWAYS here".

"Well about that…Amu, you're not gonna see me for a few weeks, not Utau and them either", he said.

"Why? Is it because of the guardians?" she asked, concern was etched out on her face.

"Kiddy king and his group? They couldn't do anything to us, you know that strawberry", he said. Amu felt the urge to remind him what happened to Rima a few short weeks ago but thought better of it.

"Then why are you leaving?"

"Something happened with my place. Why, were you worried strawberry?" he asked.

"Ikuto!!!" Amu began to smack his arm. Ikuto's face turned serious.

"Amu, I want you to join the guardians".

"What". Amu was perplexed. This went against everything she ever knew about Ikuto.

Ikuto sighed and looked down. "Just for now at least. Stay close to them and don't get hurt", he said.

"Why would I get hurt? What the hell are you talking about? Whose gonna-" the cat boy wonder silenced her with a soft kiss. The pinkette gave in at once and wrapped her arms around his neck. They made out for about three minutes then Ikuto broke the kiss.

"I have to go now. Just…promise me", he said and then he jumped from her balcony and disappeared into the night.

"I…promise?" she said, not completely sure of anything that was going on.

Ikuto's team reached the Fujisaki's estate at about three a.m.

"This place…it's a friggin castle", Rima said.

"Yo Nagi, what's the best room?" Utau questioned. The purple haired boy thought for a second.

"I'd have to say the one on the top floor that has the Jacuzzi connected".

"Called it", Rima said, moving the fastest that anyone has ever seen her to get to the room.

"No way shrimp!" Utau shouted, also in pursuit of the dream room.

"Girls", Ikuto said as a certain pinkette came to mind.

"Oh yea, where's Amu?" Nagihiko inquired.

"Didn't you leave to bring her?" Kairi asked. Ikuto shook his head.

"I didn't want to say this in front of Rima and Utau, but I think something is happening. Something bigger than old man Hoshina making some bad investments", he said.

"Then wouldn't it be safer to keep her with us?" Kairi suggested. Ikuto shook his head.

"Wouldn't risk it. Whatever is happening has nothing to do with the guardians, so she's better off with them". Nagihiko nodded in agreement.

"Wait…so you're just going to let Tadase get her", Kairi said.

"If it keeps her safe", Ikuto explained. He was also a hundred percent confident that he'd be able to win her back anyway.

"And what about Rima?" If they were in danger, then the petite blonde was already involved.

Nagihiko's face suddenly became solemn. "I'll protect Rima with my life". Kairi had seen and heard a lot of bravado in his years, but something told that both his friends meant what they said. He began to wonder why they would go through all that, just for some girls.

"You'll understand when you find one", Nagihiko said with his ability to almost read minds.

"Yea, just put down that damn laptop for ten minutes", Ikuto said with a smirk. The boy with glasses only shook his head. He had been on his fair share of dates but he still didn't know what made Ikuto and Nagihiko lose their sanity over them, and quite frankly he didn't want to know either.

The next afternoon, Amu strolled into the Royal garden. She was welcomed by the sight of the Guardians without revenge crazed looks in their eyes, and the smell of homemade brownies. All was right with the world, but she still felt as if there was something missing; be it Utau's songs, or Rima's glares, or Ikuto's abs…on second thought it was definitely the abs. She had promised Ikuto something, and though she didn't know exactly why, she didn't want to break a promise, especially not to him.

"Um guys, I kinda have an announcement" Amu said shyly. The four pairs of eyes turned to her, signaling for her to continue.

"I um…I want to join the guardians!" There was a moment of shocked silence. They had mostly expected Amu to play the neutral card for a few more months.

"ALL RIGHT! AMU-CHI IS FINALLY A GUARDIAN THIS IS GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN!!!" Yaya screamed at full volume. The girl was practically bouncing off the walls.

"Amu-chan, I think you broke Yaya", Nadeshiko said with a laugh. Kukai made a face.

"I think Yaya broke my ear drum…again", he said. Amu smiled, she had definitely made the right choice.

"So Amu-chan, to start your first official meeting as a guardian we should discuss the embryo's-"

"No no no, it's enough about the embryo and Easter already. We haven't even seen the embryo in a while. Amu-chi is a guardian now we need to have some fun!" Yaya testified. Kukai nodded thoughtfully.

"It has been a while since we had a break. And hey, Tadase isn't your birthday next week?" he asked. The blonde boy cringed inwardly. This really wasn't the time to be celebrating. He would be fine once no one mentioned a…

"W-we could throw a party", Amu suggested meekly. Isn't it funny when no one listens to the one who is supposed to be in charge?

"I like the way you think. First thing on the new agenda is to plan Tadase's party", Kukai said.

"We should have a cake, no two cakes, no A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!" Yaya exclaimed.

"Yea, a chocolate fountain, that's good. And we can rent out a club and hire a D.J. This is gonna be the party of the year. It'll go down in Seiyo history", Kukai declared, the wheels already turning in his head.

"Nadeshiko…help me", the kings' chair pleaded. She rolled her eyes thinking something along the lines of 'I have to do everything, don't I'.

"Guys, Hotori-kun is right, we can't throw a party", she said.

"C'mon Na-chi, don't let the kill joy get to you", Yaya coaxed. Nadeshiko suddenly broke out into a smile.

"We can't throw a party because we're not going to be here…" she said happily. Tadase sent Nadeshiko a 'what the hell' look while the others waited to see where this would go.

"And we won't be here because in honor of Tadase's birthday, a week from today, we the guardians of Seiyo High School and our charas will be going to the Fujisaki beach estate in Osaka!" Nadeshiko declared as if giving a royal decree.

"I love the beach in Osaka!" Amu shouted enthusiastically, now fully sucked into the mutiny.

"I love having rich friends", Kukai said, clearly pleased with the situation.

"We can't go on vacation", Tadase interjected. Nadeshiko turned to him with sad puppy dog eyes.

"B-but I had to do extra dance practices for three whole months so my mom would give me the estate for this", she said, giving him a full frontal sparkle attack.

"N-Nadeshiko-chan please b-be reasonable", Tadase said smiling kindly at her, knowing well that he would lose this argument if she didn't stop now.

"Please Tadase-kun", she said sweetly, resting a hand on his knee. Nadeshiko batted her eyelashes and sent him her most charming smile. You could almost see the anime sparkles fill the atmosphere. Though only in polite smiles, a war of wills was taking place. After a good five minutes Tadase broke and looked away.

"You're impossible, you know that?" he asked the purple haired girl. Everyone knew that she had won.

"A-ri-ga-to Hotori-kun", Nadeshiko said, and then planted an innocent kiss on his cheek. This caused him to resemble a cherry tomato, or better yet Amu. "You won't regret it".

"Did…Did Tadase just get out smiled?" Amu asked in disbelief. Kukai and Yaya nodded.

"He has no backbone when it comes to that girl", Kukai explained, and indeed Kukai was right.

"Tadase may be king's chair but Na-chi has all the real power", Yaya said. Amu nodded. So the guardians were like a chess game, where the Queen rules the King and everything else for that matter.

A/N: Does anyone else see where this beach house is gonna be a problem? If you do congratulations you won! If not, just wait until the next chapter. Read and Review please.


	8. Chapter 8

Kairi's P.O.V

So it's been exactly a week since we got booted out of Easter headquarters. Basically as a group we've been idly hanging out on Nagihiko's beachfront property instead of trying to figure out what's going on. It was fun, ignorance. But let's face it, I'm Kairi and that being said I can only go so long without knowing everything about everything.

So here I am, hacking into Easter to find out what could be causing them to lose so much money. What I found is that they weren't losing money at all. They were actually getting richer…if that's even possible. Almost all their assets were at an all time high, the only exception being the Embryo Research Project.

It seems like a competitor is outsourcing them with more effective ways of tracking the embryo and harnessing X-egg energy. But who, besides us would know anything about that? After about twenty seconds of breaking their 'top secret codes' I came up with an insignia; an A with a lightning bolt behind it. Oh how ominous.

My better sense told me to tell the rest of the team about this. I mean, knowing how no nonsense the Guardians are they were probably having a peace picnic with these people and telling them how despicable we are and planning a blitzkrieg style attack for the minute we set foot back in Tokyo…or I'm just being paranoid.

I looked back at the beach house in which the rest of my team was still asleep which I kinda expected. Ikuto has always been a lazy bum, Utau was writing her new album last night, and I can imagine that Rima and Nagihiko would be exhausted after their…_nighttime activities. _With that I decided that a lead was not worth enduring all their wraths at the same time and if any force was gonna piss them off now, it was not gonna be me.

End of P.O.V

Meanwhile, four out of five Guardians were waiting at the train station. "Where's Amu-chi, the train leaves in five minutes", Yaya whined.

"This is a sign", Tadase said, still wary about letting his guard down. Nadeshiko rolled her eyes.

"This is _Amu_. If she were actually on time, then I would be worried. And since I told her that the train was leaving fifteen minutes before it is she should be here in three…two…one", Nadeshiko recited. And like clockwork a sweaty, panting Amu ran up to them duffel bag in hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry we missed the train didn't we?"

"Nope, you're right on time", Kukai told her. Amu heaved a sigh of relief. Nadeshiko has something of a triumphant smirk on her face. The guardians boarded the train and filed in to their section; Tadase and Nadeshiko on one side, Kukai Amu and Yaya on the other. The charas lounged on the table between them.

"Ran you can't beat me", Diachi boasted.

"Then what am I supposed to call what I'm doing now?" she questioned.

"They really turned it into a soccer field", Temari said in exasperation.

"The king will excel at everything!" Kiseki declared.

"Don't embarrass yourself in front of Temari~dechu. She would never let you live it down~dechu" Pepe advised.

"Good call commoner", Kiseki said, blushing madly. Temari only smirked slightly. She was more like Nadeshiko than anyone gave her credit for. Su smiled at the exchange. She could almost sense the sparks in the atmosphere.

Miki sat curled in her own little corner, sketching lazily on a pad. She was hunched over so no one could see what she was doing. Amu knew that Miki was the most introverted of her charas, but she was still concerned.

"Miki", the pinkette called, and the artist chara floated to her "What are drawing?" Miki shyly turned her pad over to reveal a detailed picture of Yoru playing with some yarn. Amu groaned she could ignore her own pain, but not that of her charas.

"You miss him, huh". She nodded.

"It's not just me. Dia misses Rhythm and Utau and she's being emo. Her angst speaks to me" Amu rolled her eyes. Her charas fascination with the idol still upset her a bit.

"_We are now reaching Osaka station_" said a lady on the intercom. Amu struggled to pull her bags out of the overhead luggage compartment. Suddenly a hand reached out and got it for her.

"A-arigato Tadase-kun", she said, blushing. He smiled kindly at her. The Guardians left the train to come face to face with the beach. All of them, except Nadeshiko stared longingly at the clear blue water. The Fujisaki giggled.

"Just go, I have to neaten the house anyway", she said.

"Are you sure?" Tadase asked.

"She's sure!" Kiseki hissed.

Kukai and Yaya rushed away, dragging Amu and Tadase behind them. They did not want to give her a chance to change her mind.

Nadeshiko strolled up the beach to the familiar place. She sighed contentedly; everything was the same as she'd left it years ago. Same house, same sand, same pool, same balcony same Kairi sitting on the front steps….?

The girl nearly jumped out of her own skin when she saw her enemy relaxing on HER beachfront property. "What the hell are you doing here punk!" she demanded in a thick Hiroshima accent. Kairi simply pushed his glasses up on his face.

"Guardian…hmm one of you out here, and all of them in there", he said pointing to the house "are you in a position to be raising your voice at me?"

"You are trespassing! Don't make threats at me, this is my house!" she said irritably.

"Actually, this house is owned by the Fujisaki family, and we were invited by a member of the Fujisaki family". Nadeshiko flinched. He had a point, but he still needed to get the hell out. If Tadase saw this he would pop a blood vessel, die, and then come back to haunt her.

"Point taken, but you still need to leave. The rest of the Guardians are on the beach and I don't want this to get messy", Nade explained. Kairi seemed to be the most civil of the Easter agents so maybe she could reason with him.

"Now what would make us leave to keep your little boyfriend happy?" he asked. Nadeshiko sighed, it was narrow, sure, but it was still an opening.

"I am willing to negotiate". Kairi chuckled.

"Negotiate? Let's see, so that would be your head on a silver platter for Rima. Ridiculous power for Utau, Catnip, Amu and the lock you stole for Ikuto. And whatever the hell your brother wants? Can you really give Easter all of this?" he asked.

Nadeshiko was seething. This little cynic was playing with her. She started to walk away, calculating how much it would cost to put her friends in a hotel.

"Wait a minute", Kairi said. She turned around "What".

"You asked what Easter wanted, which you can't possibly give. It would be better for you to deal with me…directly. Cut out the middle man", he told her. The girl raised an eyebrow, and motioned for him to keep talking.

"I'll get them out for you, Cuz you're cute. But you're going to owe me a favor", Kairi said.

"If I said yes…how are you gonna get them out?" Nade questioned. Kairi typed a formula into his laptop.

"One fake embryo sighting coming right up. Get out of sight and come back in fifteen minutes. We'll all be gone".

Surprisingly, Kairi kept his word. A half hour later, Nadeshiko led the guardians to the Fujisaki beach estate.

"Oh MY GOD!" Yaya exclaimed.

"Do we really get to use all of this?" Amu questioned. Nadeshiko nodded. They all got situated in their rooms. Amu looked out the window and noticed the sun set, it was beautiful. She was still a bit disappointed that it wasn't a full moon yet.

In the corner she noticed a something; a violin. As far as she knew no one in Nadeshiko's family played the violin. Besides that, this one felt far too familiar. When she sat on the bed, she thought she smelled Ikuto. "I'm going insane", she sighed. It was just her charas getting to her.

The door to her room swung open and Amu was pulled out of her thoughts. "Yo, Amu we're going back to the beach!" Kukai said. The boy was wearing nothing but his swim trunks. A guilty blush came onto Amu's face. And then the little voice in her head that sounded a bit too much like Ikuto's whispered '_You can only be a pervert for me'. _

Down on the beach Tadase and Kukai waited for the girls.

"How long does it take to put on a damn swimsuit?" Kukai asked.

"This long!" Yaya shouted, coming out in a polka dot halter tankini. "Does Yaya look cute?" she asked, daring them to say no.

"Yes", the boys answered in unison, not wanting to upset the hyper time bomb.

Next Amu came out in a red two piece. "Amu-chi is kawaii! But your chest is still flat. Is that normal, you're fifteen?" Yaya asked.

"I am not flat!" Amu screeched, beet red.

"You kinda are Amu-chan", Ran whispered.

"Traitor", the pinkette snapped.

Nadeshiko then strolled onto the beach in a purple bikini top and a pair of denim short-shorts. "What did I miss?" she asked casually.

"Damn it Nade", Kukai complained as blood started dripping from his nose.

"See Amu-chi, that's the opposite of flat", Yaya explained, gesturing at Nade's 'developments'.

Tadase was not a particularly perverted young man, but even he couldn't help but stare. When had his childhood friend become such an attractive woman?

"Happy birthday Hotori-kun", she said with a wink. And once again, the blonde blushed the way Amu did around him. Ah isn't karma a bitch?

"When are you gonna look like that?" Kiseki asked Temari. She shrugged.

"What if I already do? You don't know what's under this kimono…and you NEVER will", the chara teased, floating away.

"As king, I command you to take your shirt off!" Kiseki shouted, following her.

"I do as I please because I call the shots around here", Temari said smugly.

"No you're not!" he argued.

Pepe sighed. "They love each other~dechu", she said.

"No doubt", Diachi agreed.

"I can bake a wedding cake~desu", Su offered.

Dia shook her head in disbelief to how unfair life was, and Amu was having a little too much fun to sympathize.

A/N: I had a little fun with this chapter. If you're wondering what's up with the Temari/Kiseki it's because Rima and Nagi are already together so I kinda miss the love hate relationship. Next, Kairi does NOT like Nadeshiko, he just wants to hold this over her. Um there will be Amuto in the next chapter (YAY). And Easter and the Guardians are about to have much bigger problems than each other. Read and Review please and I'll try to update sometime this weekend!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Now ownership T-T

Rima's P.O.V

I am extremely pissed at Kairi. He woke us up at some ungodly hour to chase the embryo. Now I would have no problem whatsoever with this IF THE DAMN EMBRYO WAS HERE, which it's not. So I am about to kill something. I don't know why but somehow I want to blame this whole thing on the damn guardians.

"Kairi", Ikuto growled. He hates losing sleep as much as I do, maybe more. He is a cat after all.

"Rima, X-eggs", Kusu-kusu said. This was puzzling. X-eggs that had nothing to do with us? Well that's just unheard of.

"Leave it to the Guardians", Ikuto said.

"And miss out on a perfectly good opportunity to piss them off. I don't think so", Utau said. Cat boy shrugged. We all know that he's dying to see Amu again. At least now Christmas shopping won't be so hard. I'll just put a bow on my best friend.

Anyway, when we reached the scene of the crime some people we've never seen before were character transformed, making X-eggs, and looking completely bored about it. I could totally sympathize. The only thing off about this was no guardians. Humph, and they call us lazy.

"Transform", Ikuto whispered.

Charanari:

"Lunatic Charm"

"Clown Drop"

"Beat Jumper"

"Black Lynx"

A black haired boy, probably the leader smirked at us. "So you must be the Guardians", he said.

"Useless do-gooders", a red headed girl added. Boredom laced her voice. Eww, how dare they call us the Guardians? That is insulting! And furthermore, they are ours to torment and insult anyway. Where do they get off trying to insult our targets?

"We are not the Guardians", Utau said, disgusted. Another boy stepped forward.

"Then you're Easter. This is disappointing. I thought you'd be an actual challenge", he said. Okay, these people are starting to get on my nerves.

"Who are you supposed to be anyway?" Ikuto asked.

"You can call us…agents of Advent", he said. It really amazes me how completely hilarious it is when people are trying to make themselves sound threatening.

"Advent…ooh how scary", Nagihiko said dryly. C'mon man I'm supposed to be the sarcastic one in the relationship. Sigh- you think you know a person.

"You should be scared", the redhead told us. "Get stronger. It would mean nothing killing you all now". And then they disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving a bad cliché, unanswered questions, and yet another thorn in our sides. Damn I'm starting to sound like Amu.

End of P.O.V

"So…Advent", Ikuto said breaking the awkward silence.

"They're the ones buying Easter out", Kairi said.

"Obviously", Utau said.

"Can we go back to the beach now?" Rima asked tiredly.

"Yea shrimp, I left my violin there anyway", Ikuto said.

"Wouldn't it be wiser to start planning instead of going back on vacation", Kairi offered. Utau narrowed her eyes.

"In case you've forgotten, we have nowhere else to go right now and _they_ are probably in out loft right now! We all know that you're allergic to fun, but right now that's just not the issue!" the pop star lectured. Needless to say that they were going back, all but Kairi ignorant to what they would meet.

Amu lay awake in bed. She was thinking over the events of the day. "Tadase-kun is so nice to me", she mused.

"He better be", said a voice in the direction of the window "Cuz if he's not, I'll have to kick his ass".

"W-why how…Ikuto!" Amu yelled.

Ikuto smirked. "So my little strawberry came all this way just to see me. You even saved me the trouble of carrying you upstairs", he said.

"I-it's not like that! What are you even doing here? This is Nadeshiko's house", she said. A look of understanding crossed Ikuto's face.

"To you guys, this is Nadeshiko's house. For us it's Nagihiko's house which means…" he started.

"Things are about to get loud, ugly, and possibly violent", she finished. Ikuto climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around Amu's waist.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Ikuto licked her neck slowly. Amu released a moan of pleasure. She moved on top of Ikuto and captured his lips with her own. For just one night, she would become the predator and he was the prey. Only this time, the prey had every intention of getting caught.

Tadase sat on the sand right outside the house. It was 11:55pm, exactly five minutes until his birthday. The stars were shining beautifully. Though he hated to admit it, Nadeshiko was right. They all needed this vacation. Uncannily, the girl in question appeared in a white sun dress. Her hair was down, a rare occasion, and despite the dark of night, she had sunglasses on top of her head.

"Stargazing huh", she said, lying next to him. At the moment, she didn't care that sand was getting in her long purple locks.

"Yea, you remember in elementary school. We used to sneak into the planetarium at night, but Tsukasa-san knew the whole time". They both had to smile at the memory. A shooting star zipped over them in the sky.

"Nee, Hotori-kun. What are we going to do when we get the embryo?" she asked. He shrugged. It was somewhere between save the world and do whatever we want.

"No clue", he said honestly. Nadeshiko smirked.

"Good, because I'm going to wish myself a Brazilian boyfriend", she said.

"Why's that?" he asked, a hint of jealousy in his voice. She giggled.

"Because you're response is hilarious. But seriously, I'm not planning on being single forever", she said.

"So, no one in Japan is good enough for you?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"No, I like someone…but he likes someone else", Nade explained. Tadase frowned.

"Who?"

"Why do you need to know?" she questioned.

"What if he's not good enough for you", the king's chair explained.

"Oh don't worry, he's not", the Queen countered.

"Nade", he groaned. She smiled.

"Ok Ok. But if you can't figure it out, it's not my fault. The person is overly ambitious, kinda crazy, a bit of a control freak, and completely clueless (Ahem)", Nadeshiko explained.

"Why would you like someone like that?" he asked. The girl smiled, enjoying an inside joke with herself.

"He's also smart and caring, kind, kinda strong, a good friend, and he's always there for me", she said.

"Sounds like a good guy", Tadase commented.

"So...do you like anyone besides Amu-chan?" she asked.

The interrogation was interrupted by a torrent of sand being kicked on top of them. Rima and Nagihiko were standing over them, and they did not look happy.

"Why are you two in front of my house?" Nagihiko asked. Nadeshiko scowled.

"You're house? That's pretty damn arrogant for someone who hasn't been home in two years", she said.

"Well while you two were fucking off some of your X-eggs got destroyed", Nagi said nonchalantly.

"Well congratulations", Tadase said sarcastically. It was a completely new experience to him.

"Well move, get out, why are you here?" Rima demanded as she kicked more sand on the pair.

"We're on vacation", Tadase said.

"We are too and we were here first so you have to leave", Rima said, deliberately leaving out the part about having nowhere else to go.

"Well you're gonna be sleeping on the sand tonight because we're not going anywhere", Nadeshiko told her.

"What the…What are you doing to my laptop you ignoramus!" the shout was heard from inside the house.

"Yaya is playing solitaire and winning. This thing was in here when I got here so LEAVE YAYA ALONE!"

"This is just _perfect_", the twins said in unison. It would have been incredibly cool if they didn't despise each other. The four walked inside the house to find Kairi glaring daggers at Yaya for wiping out his research for a solitaire game.

"Na-chi, what are they doing here. Should Yaya call the police, they're stalking us", she said. Nadeshiko shrugged, the kid had a point.

"You bastard! You ate all my instant ramen!" Utau screeched from the kitchen.

"This is not your house. I know I'm sexy but you don't have to stalk me like this", Kukai said.

"Who would want to stalk a stupid man whore like you", the pop star said.

"Obviously you!" the soccer player retorted. Through the madness, Tadase noticed something. Everyone was downstairs arguing except the 'thieving cat' and Amu.

"Where's Ikuto?" Utau asked. A thought shot through her mind and she bolted upstairs followed by everyone else. There was a sign on the door that said

_Do not disturb. Settle this amongst yourselves and try not to kill anyone  
–Amu and Ikuto _

Infuriated, Nadeshiko turned to her twin. "You need to get the hell out of my house!"

"You need to stop acting so damn spoiled. You can't have your way all the time Nadeshiko…and this is just one of those times", Nagihiko argued.

Suddenly the door swung open. An irritated Amu stood in the doorway. "All of you need to SHUT THE FUCK UP! I AM TRYING TO SLEEP. This is a fucking estate it's huge! If you hate each other, stay the hell away from each other. But stop making noise in my damn ears at twelve in the morning", she ranted and slammed the door shut, leaving everyone stunned.

The door cracked back open slightly. "Oh and by the way, happy birthday Tadase-kun. I just wanted to be the first", the pinkette added sheepishly. Ikuto who had been pretending to sleep the whole time smirked slightly. He was so happy he came in through the window.

"Our friends are stupid", Amu commented as she went back to bed.

"I know…Ramen and Solitaire...seriously. You guardians are crazy", Ikuto commented.

"It wasn't just them", she defended.

"Yea, but they're more annoying…and louder. Your cuteness makes up for it though", he said. She smiled, her lips were sore from kissing, but she was nowhere near done yet.

As soon as everyone went back upstairs, Nadeshiko went into the kitchen. She would have to make the world's greatest birthday cake to make up for this one. Somewhere around 4am she decided that just cake wouldn't do it this time so she proceeded with cinnamon rolls, sweet bread, red velvet cupcakes, chocolate chip muffins, brownies, and then later a colossal breakfast. None of them could possibly stay mad while eating pancakes.

Hours later Nagihiko came downstairs and saw the mass array of food. "Good, I don't have to cook this morning", he said, reaching for a slice of bacon. Nadeshiko glared and smacked his hand away.

"This food is for the Guardians. Since you are no longer a Guardian or my brother for that matter, you ARE cooking this morning…If you want to eat that is", she said.

"I didn't expect any less", he said and started searching for a clean frying pan, and any ingredients…at all. Truthfully though, he missed his sister's cooking. Not that he'd ever admit that.

Even more hours later, everyone was awake and hungry. The aroma of food led them to the dining room. Nadeshiko's feast was artfully placed on the table. Kukai smirked "The score is now Guardians 1 Easter 0".

Utau scowled as the Easter agents took their empty stomachs to the living room couch.

"Nagi, why is there no food?" Rima questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Because they used up all the ingredients in the house", an equally annoyed Nagihiko replied.

"Why didn't you go to the supermarket?" Ikuto asked.

"The supermarket it is five miles away and it doesn't open until eleven", the long haired boy explained, trying to keep his patience.

"The corner store is at the corner", Yaya sang smugly.

"It opens at nine and its 9:03!" Kairi shouted.

"Chop Chop, I'm hungry", Ikuto said.

"Yea we could've been eating three minutes", Utau said.

"We were eating three minutes ago", Kukai teased.

Nagihiko sighed; this was going to be a damn long day.

"This is so good. Na-chi should become a professional chef!" Yaya exclaimed.

"She'd make a good wife eh Tadase", Kukai said, clearly insinuating something.

"Guys, this is too much food for five people. We should just give them some", Amu said.

"Yaya thinks not".

"I second that", Kukai said.

"Tadase…Nadeshiko", Amu pleaded, trying to get some sense out of someone.

"It's not my decision, I didn't cook", Tadase said.

"C'mon Nade, they're abusing your brother", the pinkette said.

"My brother is right here. Right bro", Nadeshiko said, pointing at Kukai.

"Right sis", Kukai replied inhaling yet another stack of pancakes.

Amu shook her head in disbelief to how callous the Guardians could be. The gourmet food tasted slightly bitter knowing her friends were starving teasing distance away.

A/N: Soo I kept my word because it's Sunday night, and it's officially still the weekend. I'm not gonna say anything else to spoil what's gonna happen next. Review please I love hearing people's opinions!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara…if I did season 3 wouldn't have ended so retarded.

Kukai stared at the piece of cake in his hand. He glanced cautiously at the blonde pop star who sat on the couch. He had no idea why he was doing this, but he was. "You hungry?" he asked sliding in next to her. She glanced at the cake.

"What did you do to it?"

"Nothing, but hey if you don't want it then…" he said, reaching for it.

"If you touch that cake I'm going to kill you", Utau threatened. The angry glint in her eye showed that she meant it. Kukai smirked as she started to devour it.

"What do you say", he teased. She glared at him.

"What took you so long?" she snapped. "Or are you only going to be nice to me when your friends aren't around?"

He shrugged. It wasn't like she was the most affectionate person in the world anyway. Utau glanced at Kukai shyly. "Um, thanks", she said almost inaudibly. He grinned at her.

"No problem at all pop star". And the awkward silence ensued.

Amu's P.O.V

Sooooo I was in the process of stealing some food for Ikuto when I came across something very interesting. Kukai and Utau on the couch having a civil conversation and…Utau were eating! I was right, they do like each other! The Guardian/Easter alliance was two fifths in effect. If we could just get two more people to tolerate each other, we would have the majority.

I made my way to my starving kitty's room…well technically it's my room but anyway, I was shocked to see him already eating.

"H-how did you?"

"Stole", he explained. Of course he did, so much for doing something nice.

Ikuto had a serious expression on his face. That's just not normal. "What's the matter?"

He reached over and licked my cheek. "Mmm you even taste like strawberries".

"If you're trying to distract me it's not going to-" and then he shut me up with that ever-present tongue of his.

End of P.O.V

Yaya strolled across the beach idly. She had he left the house because she was sick of all the couples. Amu and Ikuto, Rima and Nagihiko, Nadeshiko and Tadase, Utau and Kukai…it was an epidemic. The hyper girl's shoulders slumped slightly at the thought of this. Why was she the only one who didn't have someone?

Sure, she wasn't gorgeous as Rima, as talented as Utau, or as perfect as Nadeshiko. But neither was Amu, but even SHE found her perfect match…like a lock and key, oh how ironic.

Yaya's P.O.V

I hate to sound melodramatic but I'm convinced that love hates me, so you know what Yaya hates love too. Sigh- let me explain. My first major crush was on Tadase…in retrospect I really wonder what I was thinking. At the time I was obsessed with fairytales and princes, and let's face it, prince charming has nothing on Tadase.

I would watch him all the time, following him around and taking notes. Soon enough I realized that it could never happen for us. Yaya's first law of Royals is that for every charming, kind, and slightly egotistical prince there is an equal and opposite gentle, driven, and just a teensy bit manipulative princess who knows he's not all he appears to be and loves him all the same (Does anyone come to mind?). Yaya just hopes that THEY realize it before we're all eighty-five.

Moving along, Yaya's next two crushes are kinda confusing because they happened at the same time. I'd gotten over princes and went straight to jocks. The first jock that comes to mind is Kukai, Seiyo's soccer star. I haven't really gotten over this one until recently (the whole Utau situation). I'm not as upset about it as you'd think. Someone like Kukai deserves a girl who can shine as bright as him, I cannot stand Utau, but they're still a good match.

I also liked Nagihiko for a good while, and I thought that I actually had a decent chance with him…and then came Rima. I feel that elaborating any further than that would be redundant.

Yaya finally see's what the problem is. There isn't a boy alive who could possibly understand me and not head for the hills. I allowed a tear to roll down my cheek and noted the apparent lack of someone there to pull me into their embrace. Yep, there is definitely something wrong with me. I'm like boy kryptonite.

End of P.O.V

Something approached Yaya, blocking her from the sun. She looked up tearfully to see what dared to interrupt her suffering. A boy stood in front of her. He had light brown hair, sea green eyes a kind smile. Not to mention his tanned skin and noteworthy abs and biceps. He held a candy apple out to her.

She blinked. "What's this for?"

He smiled at her "Because roses are too common", he explained. Yaya couldn't help but giggle.

"Care to elaborate?" she questioned.

"Girls are like apples, the best ones are at the top of the tree. The boys don't want to reach for them because they're afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead they get the rotten apples on the ground that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think that there's something wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing", he recited the fimilar quote with a hint of something unrecognizable in his eyes.

Yaya felt her cheeks heat up. She couldn't remember the last time someone said something like that to her. "Who are you anyway?" she asked, taking a bite out of the confection.

"Zero".

Yaya beamed at him. "Arigato Zero-kun, you cheered Yaya up!" Zero chuckled.

"You talk in third person huh?" he asked. Yaya cringed; this was it, where he would reject her because she wasn't all mysterious and aloof. "That's cute. You're funny. I think I like you, Yaya-chan", he said. The brunette felt her heart flutter in her chest. She most definitely liked Zero-kun too.

There was a loud thunder clap and the sky started to darken. Zero sighed, as if he were pulled out of a dream and thrust back into harsh cold reality. "Yaya-chan, you should get inside, fast. There's a storm coming", he said, the cheerful hint in his voice all but disappeared. Yaya frowned, she of all people knew that words can have double meanings, but still she pushed her luck.

"You should too Zero-kun. My friends and I have this huge beach house up the hill it's the biggest one for miles! Well my mortal enemies are there too, but we just ignore them, except when we're arguing but…um-"

"The Fujisaki place, huh? I'll come by later", he said.

"Promise?"

"Yea", he said, giving her one last glance before disappearing faster than the lightning itself, and Yaya skipped towards the beach house happily without a care in the world.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter...friends have invaded my house and will not let me write anything! Umm Read and Review please. I will update as soon as they leave.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: No ownership -_-

Tadase went downstairs to find Nadeshiko perfecting yet another overly complicated dance. He shook his head, and smiled despite of himself. "Nadeshiko…do you sleep…at all?" the blonde questioned.

She shrugged. "I need to have this down by next month". Tadase gave her a skeptical look.

"That can't be healthy". Nadeshiko rolled her eyes.

"Don't tell Nadeshiko-chan what to do", Temari said with flames in her eyes.

"Tadase is only looking out for his subject as a good king should always", Kiseki defended. As Temari opened her mouth to retort, she brought her hands to her temples and shuttered.

"What's the matter Temari?" Nadeshiko asked.

"X-eggs, a lot of them", the shaking chara explained.

"You alright Tema-chan?" Kiseki asked while rubbing her shoulders.

"Ok, if they're that many eggs then we should split up and-" Nadeshiko began to strategize. Tadase sighed.

"Nade, you need to sleep. This is probably why Temari is out of it", he said.

"Don't patronize me…I'm fine!" Temari said. Kiseki sighed, that girl was too stubborn for her own good and there was no arguing with her when she got like this.

Tadase picked Nadeshiko up bridal style. "This is not up for discussion. I don't care how cute you act", he said, trying to show authority.

"I-is that what you think I do Hotori-kun?" she asked with a hurt expression. Tadase shut his eyes, damn she was good. Nadeshiko would almost always get her way with Tadase, but he wouldn't let her play with her health.

Suddenly Kukai rushed into the room. He stared at the two incredulously. "So…_this _is what you two have been up to. It's about time. Anyway, Tadase we're about to head out. Kairi says it's probably someone called 'Advent'. What the hell is up with all the holidays?" he ranted.

"Alright let's go", Nadeshiko said. She jumped out of Tadase's arms and pulled a shuriken out from the heel of her boot.

"Uh hehe, um about that Nade…you can't come", Kukai said. Nadeshiko glared, not him too.

"Well Ikuto threw a fit about Amu getting hurt in a fight, and Nagihiko threw an inoffensive one about Rima. Yaya doesn't fight most of the time anyway, and Utau doesn't give a damn either way. So in short you girls are blacklisted from this fight", the boy explained.

Nadeshiko placed her hands on her hips. "I'm a better fighter than half of you!" she argued.

"I know I know but that one (Pointing at Tadase) will get his ass kicked because he can't stop staring at your behind", he said. Nadeshiko crossed her arms.

"This is sexism", she grumbled.

"Deal with it babe", Kukai said, kissing her forehead, and then he and Tadase were off.

When Nadeshiko came back upstairs, she found Rima in her lazy boy acting like she owned the place, Yaya sprawled out on the couch eating a candy apple extremely slowly, Utau on the floor hunched over a binder, and Amu reclining on the arm of a couch.

Nadeshiko's left eye twitched was she the only one bothered by the fact that they were being patronized.

"Can you sit down? You're blocking the T.V", Rima said rudely. Surprisingly, Nadeshiko did not reach over and viciously rip out a fistful of wavy blonde hair. She sat on the couch between Amu and Yaya.

Thunder crashed outside and the sky was illuminated by violent lightning.

"Are you sure the guys should be out in this?" Amu asked. Utau looked up.

"If they want to be sexist, then it's their fault. I just hope they know how to dodge lightning", she said.

"Right", Nadeshiko agreed. Amu shook her head. She didn't understand how they could be so cold, and towards the people who cared for them most. There was another thunder clap. Rima flinched. Yaya smirked.

"Are you scared?" she asked. Rima glared at her.

"Too bad Nagi isn't here", Utau said in a teasing tone.

"Too bad Rima still is", Nadeshiko commented. Even Utau had to giggle at this one.

"Didn't your boyfriend tell you to go to sleep?" Rima retorted.

"You need to grow a foot and a half before you talk to me because as of right now, I can step on you. And YOUR boyfriend isn't here to protect you this time", Nadeshiko said.

"She told you!" Yaya exclaimed. Amu sighed. This wasn't going well, if they were going to survive until the boys returned, they would need to find some common ground.

"Hey, let's play a game", Amu said with a devilish grin. They all nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Its call I'd lie. How you play is, one person asks a question and we all lie on the answer, and if you don't want to answer then you have to tell the truth about something else", she explained. They were all silent. Amu shook her head.

"Okay I'll start. First question are you a virgin…remember you have to lie".

"No?" Yaya said starting to get the gist of it.

"No", Nadeshiko answered.

"Y-yes" Rima said, while blushing madly. She didn't expect to be the only one. Utau was silent, all eyes turned to her.

"I pick the truth about something else", the pop star said. Amu tapped her finger on her chin.

"Okay Utau…Sooo…how do you feel about Kukai?" she asked. Utau blushed.

"I kinda like him…but he's a guardian", she said looking down. Amu gave her a sympathetic look. They were making progress.

Next was Utau's question. "Are you in love with someone?"

"Nope", Rima said, her smile dazzling. Everyone knew it must've been the real thing with her.

"Yep", Yaya said. She was in like with someone, but that didn't count.

"I am perfectly sure", Amu answered, because she was always the type for confusion.

"I'll take the question", Nadeshiko said, looking down. Utau smirked.

"Fine…Does Tadase know you're in love with him?" she asked.

"I'm not in love with Tadase!" Nade shouted.

"That's not what I asked", Utau countered.

Nadeshiko sighed "No…he doesn't", she said sadly.

"Would you put love before loyalty?" Nadeshiko asked.

"But of course not", Rima said with a glint of something spiteful in her eyes.

"It _doesn't _depend", Amu said.

"No question: I would", Utau said, exhibiting the depths of her stubbornness.

"Yaya wants the question", the hyper girl said.

"Is Kairi the reason you're smiling so much today?" Nadeshiko questioned.

"No…no he is not", Yaya said, grinning some more.

"Sooo…Yaya's question is…do you like Milky Way better than Snickers?" she asked. The remaining girls sighed. It all went downhill from there, but at least no one was dead.

Meanwhile, the boys trudged down the beach. There was a portentous tension in the atmosphere. It was as if the enemy was wielding the lighting themselves.

"There is a 98.3 percent chance that one of us is going to die in the next twenty minutes", Kairi said.

"And you have to live to see Yaya again huh", Nagihiko said sarcastically. A bolt landed directly in front of Kairi after this. Kukai looked up at the darkened sky.

"What the hell! Come down and fight you bastards!" he yelled.

Two boys jumped down, one punched Kukai in the face and the other kicked Kairi in the stomach.

"Well they asked for it Z", the black haired one said. The other one nodded. A stream of lightning came from his hand, electrocuting them. If under any other circumstances, Kukai would've complimented him, but getting his ass kicked wasn't an activity that he was particularly fond of.

"GOLDEN VICTORY SHOOT!"

"HOLY CROWN!"

"BLAZE SHOOT!"

"Slash Claw"

But alas all the attacks were repealed with almost insulting ease.

"That's all?" a third boy asked, flipping down from the treetops. "You two handle this, I'm heading back to Tokyo with the girls", he said lackadaisically. The other two nodded looking equally bored.

Kairi narrowed his eyes. He had been analyzing these two since their first meeting days before. There was a nonchalant black haired one who reminded him slightly of Ikuto, and an athletic brown haired boy who seemed to have a personal vendetta against him. The later was the main lightning user, but little did he know that he wasn't the only one.

"Lightning Blade!" Kairi managed to leave a small scrape on his oppressor's shoulder, but no real damage.

The boy smirked sadistically. Was that actually supposed to hurt?

"Okay, can we finish this? I have a girl to see", he said. The other one raised an eyebrow.

"Fine by me", he said. And with that our male protagonists were mercilessly knocked out.

Hours later, the storm hadn't let up. The girls had assumed their positions of laziness in the living room and were watching anime marathons. They were watching anime on their laptops while Naruto Shippuden played on the flat screen.

"Mamotte Lollipop is awesome!" Yaya exclaimed

"It's nothing compared to Skip Beat", Utau said.

"But Vampire Knight is still better", Rima said, munching on a pocky stick.

"Not better than Omamori Himari", Nadeshiko interjected "What about you Amu-chan".

"Ouran High School Host Club, no contest. But it's three in the morning where are the boys?" the pinkette asked.

"I bet they're at some party. That's probably why they were so against us coming", Utau speculated.

"That's a point", Rima said casually, but the idea of Nagihiko with another girl, no matter how unlikely, aggravated her to no end.

"Or they are trying to protect us. They could be hurt", Amu said.

"Eh, I'm not moving right now…they'll be back", Rima said with a yawn.

"Yea, just relax Amu-chan", Nadeshiko said. Amu shook her head, bitter rivals were actually agreeing in the name of blatant laziness.

"If they're not gonna move then you all know we aren't", Yaya said, referring to herself and Utau. Amu nodded and brought her knees to her chest, as the rain continued to fall, her worry remains.

A/N: HEYYY PEOPLLLEEEE! I'M BACK! Ok so there will be a lot of romance and pairings and whatnot in the next chapter, and the Yaya love triangle begins MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ehem so anyway the boys are being rained on as the girls…do nothing T_T don't worry, they'll be more effective in the morning. Read and Review Please


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: No type of ownership

WARNING: This chapter contains high concentration of fluff and lemons!

Amu tossed and turned restlessly. Every time she attempted to sleep, the same series of paranoid thoughts intruded her mind. _'Is Ikuto okay? Did the guys get hurt? Are they in trouble or are they really partying their brains out without us? And how did the other girls not seem to care? _The pinkette pulled a blanket over her head and shivered. The rain had let up about fifteen minutes ago, but the unpromising air stayed in its place.

Nadeshiko sat up and looked over at Amu. They all decided to stay in the living room for the night as a sleepover. The pink haired girl was unsettling her with her constant paranoia. Nade was putting all her energy into not looking as worried as she actually was. She could believe that Ikuto and Kukai were drunk as fish partying with bimbos at five in the morning. She could also believe that Nagihiko and Kairi could have succumbed to those antics as well.

But there was no way in hell that Tadase would have gone along with it. Not when she had to BEG him to come to a school dance! Now there was a chance that they killed Tadase, threw his body in a bush and THEN went clubbing, but none of them would dare test her wrath at such an unholy hour. The possibilities of what could have happened were endless, and so instead of scaring herself with the worst case scenario, she shut her eyes and tuned out everything relevant to her.

There was a pounding on the door. The five girl's heads snapped up at once. Apparently they had all been feigning sleep. Nadeshiko pulled the door open and three guys stood in the doorway.

"Zero-kun!" Yaya shouted and ran up to hug one of them. The remaining girls raised their eyebrows at the familiarity.

"Hey Yaya-chan", he said wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Some friends of mine are throwing a beach party tomorrow night".

"You ladies should definitely come", the dark haired one said, looking Nadeshiko up and down.

"Oh we most definitely will", Utau said, eying the third one.

Rima shook her head. She had no clue how they could be this hot and cold. The petite blonde took the flyer from them and not so kindly explained that it was five o'clock in the friggin morning. After she shut the door, pandemonium ensued.

"Yaya-chan, who was that boy?" Nadeshiko inquired.

"Yea, and who was his friend?" Utau asked with a smirk on her face.

"He's really cute. I approve", Amu said.

_Where'd you meet him? How old is he? Is he your boyfriend? _The questions were shot at the ginger haired girl at lightning speed. Yaya could only blush in response.

"W-well what happened was-" Yaya started to explain.

The back door opened and in walked five drenched boys, each with some kind of tired look on their faces.

"Can you go back outside please? We were having a conversation", Utau said. Yaya heaved a sigh of relief. She was nowhere near ready to explain Zero to them yet.

"Soo…did you enjoy yourselves last night?" Utau asked with steel in her voice. She could tell just from looking that they were hung over.

"Oh yes", Kukai said sarcastically "because I just love fighting in the rain".

"No one fights for ten hours", the pop star pointed out.

"You're right about that one", Ikuto murmured.

"You know what, why am I even arguing with you man whores? Go back to your bitches!" Utau shouted and then she walked away.

Utau went to her room and collapsed on the bed. There was no way they could be telling the truth. Over time the girl had developed a love tactic: hurt or be hurt. This is why it was much easier to imagine a Kukai who would play with her emotions as well as her body than one who actually cares and would put himself on the line to protect her. Despite that, in the depths of her soul she knew which one stood before her. She just didn't know how to handle it at the moment.

Amu sighed. "Can we just deal with this in the morning? I'm tired", she said. She was tired of being the mediator, the peacemaker and the one that everyone turned to.

When Rima came downstairs in the morning she was unnerved by the fact that there was no breakfast…yet again. She went to Nagihiko's room to find him asleep under a pile of blankets. His face was flushed and he was breathing heavily. The petite blonde shook her head. She knew that she would be getting her own breakfast this morning.

Rima found Amu lounging in the second floor Jacuzzi, pineapple drink in hand. "Amu", she said apprehensively. The rosette looked up at her.

"I think Nagi is sick", she said quietly.

"And…" Amu replied. She had no idea where the girl was going with this. Rima sighed, trying to find a way to explain that she didn't have a domestic/maternal/caring bone in her undersized body.

"I don't know what to do", she explained while looking down. Amu smiled slightly. She had never seen Rima this vulnerable and it was almost cute.

Amu shrugged. "I don't know. If he's sick just make him feel better", she advised. Rima smiled and nodded. Now she knew exactly what to do.

Rima went back to her room and threw open her closet doors. There was one garment she owned that could fix anything between Nagihiko and herself. She was taking out the blue lingerie. She slipped into the provocative sleepwear and sprayed a little bit of perfume between her breasts, taking Amu's ambiguous advice in the polar opposite direction than intended.

When she was sure that no one would catch her in the hallway, Rima sauntered back into Nagihiko's room and closed the door behind her. _'Hmm, still sleeping'_, she observed, but she had ways to fix that. Rima removed the covers and then sat on top of chest.

"Time to get up, Na-gi-hi-ko", she said seductively, lingering on every syllable. Nagi's face twitched and Rima smirked. She was actually starting to get in the mood. She kissed his neck, and let her lips rest there.

Suddenly the boy started coughing violently, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "Nagi…what's the matter?" she said nervously.

"C-can't breathe", he wheezed. Rima moved off his chest quickly and kneeled beside him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, brushing his bangs out of his face. He nodded.

"I'm fine Rima-chan, I just want to sleep", he said hoarsely. Rima nodded her head and made a mental note to never take Amu's advice literally.

Yaya ran around the house frantically. Somehow everything in her closet seemed completely unappealing. "Na-chi, can I borrow your strip of denim?" she asked, referring to the micro mini skirt that would make anyone's legs look alluring.

"Here", Nadeshiko said, throwing the garment at the younger girl.

"What are you wearing to Zero-kun's party?" Yaya questioned. Nadeshiko pulled a black mini dress with a purple belt and purple wedge heels out of her closet. Yaya smirked.

"Do you think Tadase will let you out the house in that?" she asked. Nadeshiko frowned. She hadn't seen the blonde king's chair all day.

"Go find your boyfriend Nade", the ginger haired girl advised.

"I don't have a boyfriend Yaya-chan", she said with an eye roll.

Nadeshiko went across the hall into Tadase's room. She found the blonde boy on his bed, shirt off and eyes half closed. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she took in the attributes of his bare chest.

"Hotori-kun", she said sweetly as she shook his shoulders. He groaned tiredly and then came to face her. Nadeshiko laid a hand on his forehead and her eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Nadeshiko-chan", he said weakly.

"Tadase-kun, are you feeling alright? Do you need anything?" she asked. The boy's ruby eyes darkened.

"Don't do anything for me Nadeshiko. I don't deserve you", he said.

"What do you mean?" the girl questioned, as she stroked his cheek. It had to be the fever talking.

"I can't protect you, or give you anything you want. You're better off without me. I'm a bad leader and always mess up. Ikuto and the other's are right about me. They've always been", he said.

"Tadase, don't make me smack you while you're sick", Nadeshiko said. She massaged his shoulders until she felt his muscles relax. "Just get some rest, and I'm gonna make you some tea", she said.

Just before she left the room, Nadeshiko turned around. "Oh and Hotori-kun, you know that I don't listen. Did you really think I was going to stop caring for you just because you said so?" she teased, leaving the blonde with a smile on his face.

Nadeshiko shook her head as she went down to the kitchen. She had been friends with Tadase for a number of years, and she still only had an idea of the kind of crap he took from people. The feisty girl realized then and there that she was going to curse someone out for him someday…and it was going to be soon.

Yaya looked at herself in the mirror and smiled contentedly. Her outfit was perfect. She just had to do her hair and she would be set. The only problem was she couldn't find her flat iron. Usually, when living in a house with four other girls, finding a flat iron wouldn't be such a problem. But Yaya needed HER flat iron; she didn't want anyone else's dead skin cells frolicking in her scalp.

Yaya's P.O.V

Yaya is freaking out about because I need to do my hair and the party is starting in two hours. I can't let Zero-kun see me with my hair all over the place! That's Rima's look not mine!

Anyway, Pepe-tan told me to retrace my steps, and it led me right to the computer lab where I was trying to finish my solitaire. I didn't find my flat iron, unfortunately, I found Kairi. I couldn't ever pass up an opportunity to annoy him, especially when he was breaking top-secret codes.

"You're doing that wrong", I pointed out. He glared at me, but it was a weaker glare than usual.

"I'm not hacking Yuiki-san, I'm eavesdropping on Advent", he said quietly.

"Who?" These people just loved keeping me out the loop.

"The people who attacked us", he elaborated.

"What happened yesterday anyway?" I inquired.

"These two guys started controlling lightning, and in short we got our asses kicked", he explained. I raised an eyebrow.

"Wow you guys are weak…how did two of them take down five of you. That's a damn shame", I laughed. Kairi sneezed.

"You okay class prez?" I asked. I cringed inwardly. Yaya has been calling him that secretly since the day we met.

"Why are you down here anyway?" he questioned, not answering my question.

"I can't find my flat iron", I said blankly.

"It's in the corner", he told me and then sneezed again. I nodded and unplugged it. I was scared that if I stayed any longer I might actually start to worry about his wellbeing.

"Arigato, I was gonna be late for Zero-kun's party".

"Is that your boyfriend or something?" he asked.

"Or something", I said carefully, because honestly he didn't need to know my business. He didn't care about me anyway.

Before I left the room he said "Be careful Ace, I don't trust that Zero". I stand corrected…again. When did he start calling me Ace?

"Yea and I would do something about that cold if I were you", I advised.

"I'm fine", Kairi said, and then he started coughing. He sure didn't sound fine to me. I wanted to do something sweet, but my pride wouldnt allow me to.

"Uh huh, I can see that", I said in all sarcasm. I walked out the door quickly, I was so angry with myself. He broke me. I was worried. But if I didn't see him, it would be okay. I sighed, wanting nothing more than to get to the party… with Zero-kun…far FAR away from Kairi, his disease, and my unwanted waves of sympathy.

A/N: Before I get murdered for the lack of Kutau and Amuto let me explain the fact that this chapter would have been way too long if I put everything in and it would take forever to finish. So I cut it in half. In other news if anyone cares about NBA basketball the Celtics are beating the Lakers (YAY!)


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own SC

Amu was searching the house for Ikuto who was ever characteristically nowhere to be found. She had told him to take it easy…NOT TO TAKE OFF! Because she wasn't as dense as people branded her as, she was probably the first to notice the boys weren't feeling well. And though she would never say it out loud, though the pinkette loved her friends to death, she thought they were all terrible girlfriends/technical girlfriends/friends with benefits.

In the hallway she encountered Utau. "Have you seen Ikuto?" she questioned. The blonde shrugged, as if she was more concerned with her mini skirt being too long.

"Knowing Ikuto, he's probably sleeping on the roof…as usual. Why, can't wait to make out?" Utau said with a teasing smile.

"N-n-no all the boys are s-sick", Amu stuttered as her face began to resemble a cherry tomato.

Utau chuckled darkly at her naivety. "That's not sick Amu, that's hung over. You'll know what I mean when we come back from our party tonight", she said. Amu sucked in a breath. There was no point in arguing with the stubborn idol, but even she was getting tired of the accusations. Utau obviously had some deep problems with betrayal and she was taking it out on a totally unrelated situation…poor Kukai.

Amu made her way to the roof where she found Ikuto lounging without a care in the world. She placed her hands on her hips.

"What do you think you're doing?" she questioned.

"Watching the sunset, aren't girls supposed to find that romantic?" Ikuto questioned.

"N-not when you're sick!" Amu pointed out. Ikuto chuckled.

"I know I'm a pervert but who could think of doing anything with that latent chest of yours", he teased.

"BAKA! I didn't mean sick like that! And my chest is not underdeveloped! To think I was actually worried about you", Amu ended her rant with a sad pout on her face.

And then she saw it; Ikuto shivered. She was still incredibly affronted by his comment on her chest, but since she knew this was the most vulnerability he was ever going to show in front of her she was going to milk it.

"Shouldn't you go inside?" Amu suggested. Ikuto shook his head.

"I like it better out here. And besides, I have you to keep me warm", he said and pulled her to him by her waist.

Amu brought her head to his chest. She could hear his steady heartbeat and hear his slow breathing as he fell asleep. She ran her fingers through his hair and smirked slightly. It felt like cat's fur. But that went without saying; he was her kitty after all. Her sexy mysterious black cat. And something told her that he didn't have a problem with that.

Utau admired herself in the hallway mirror. Though always beautiful, she looked especially attractive in this outfit which left almost nothing to the imagination. She went to the bathroom and started to apply her feather lash mascara. Halfway through, she was interrupted by the sound of loud coughing. The pop star rolled her eyes, murmuring "How obnoxious".

Two minutes later, it started again causing Utau to poke herself in the eye with the mascara wand. "You know what", she said as she angrily stomped to the source of the sound. She sighed in exasperation. Of course it had to be _his _room. Had it been anyone else's she would have stormed in and caused a scene about how inconsiderate they were, but she was no fool. She knew that if she were to go in there, there was a strong possibility that she would not come out. Meaning that she would have succumbed to those warm, caring feelings that have plagued the human race since the dawn of time. So instead, she walked away planning to do her makeup elsewhere.

Rima tugged at the bottom of her skirt nervously. She really had no idea why she was even going to this party. No matter how bad the moral repercussions to leaving the boys alone were, they would always be twice as bad for her. Unlike all the other girls, she was actually Nagi's girlfriend. THEY were in an actual relationship not a flirtation-ship. It crossed her mind several times to just stay home, but that would make it look like she was going soft. And as far as she's concerned, Mashiro Rima will NEVER go soft.

"Hey shrimp, ready to go break some hearts", Utau said as she stepped in the room.

"Definitely pop star", Rima replied, and the two walked downstairs together.

Nadeshiko sighed. She wasn't Tadase's girlfriend, but if she was, she'd be damn good at it. She had been taking care of the boy all afternoon. From soup to tea to medicine to massages, she felt like a wife and she wasn't even sixteen yet. The most abominable part is that she couldn't even get annoyed because the whole time he was being so fucking grateful. How could she possibly get irritated at someone while they were looking at her like she was an angel of heaven?

Even if she could, there was always the underlying fact that she might just love him. Nadeshiko rubbed Tadase's back in soothing circles, and listened to his harsh breathing as he slept. She glanced at the blonde sympathetically, wishing she could do more for him.

Suddenly the door swung open. "NA-CHI! We're leaving soon!" Yaya yelled, completely ruining the moment. The brunette smiled at the scene in front of her but then frowned. "Na-chi, we're leaving in ten minutes and you're not dressed yet!" she whined. Nadeshiko smiled apologetically.

"Yaya-chan, the boys are sick. Maybe I should just stay and keep an eye on things", she said.

"You can't you're my wing woman", Yaya cried.

"What about Utau, or Rima, or Amu", the purple haired girl offered.

"Amu-chan is probably not gonna come anyway, and Yaya doesn't know Rima and Utau like that. They might make Yaya look bad in front of Zero-kun. Please Na-chi!"  
She begged.

Nadeshiko shook her head. "There's no getting out of this is there?" she asked. Yaya shook her head and smiled in triumph. The baby always got what she wanted.

"Nope. Now get dressed", she said, pushing the older girl out of Tadase's room. Ten minutes later, Nadeshiko came downstairs and the girls walked out of the house. They noticed Amu on the roof.

"Are you coming Amu-chi!" Yaya yelled.

"No, I have stay here", the pinkette said.

"You don't HAVE to do anything. There's no ring on your finger, you can do what you want", Utau said.

"I AM doing what I want", Amu explained.

"You're a disgrace to feminism!" Utau exclaimed.

Amu rolled her eyes at the girl's theatrics. "Whatever" she said, turning her eyes back to a certain Neko boy.

"A party…A party to impress some girl…this is what you're doing with Advent's funding!" A man screamed over the phone. Zero shook his head in annoyance. He wished that people would stop dick riding him, I mean did he tell them how to be megalomaniacs and overuse the color gray?

"She's not some girl", the boy explained, starting to lose his patience with the higher ups.

"She's a hot girl with hotter friends!" Renji instigated. "Do not question the merits of this party".

"Not hotter than me, right Zero-kun", asked a girl with black hair cascading down her back. Zero cringed.

"Miko, please stay away from me, especially tonight", he said trying to be as polite as possible though he was ready to set the girl on fire. All she did was play games.

The girls walked up to the party's address and stared at the place in awe. The spectacle was every teenager's fantasy. They opened the door and all found themselves lost in a sea of people, and separated from each other.

"Glad you could make it Yaya-chan", Zero said. He snaked an arm around her waist and led her away from the crowd.

"Arigato Zero-kun", she said, blushing madly.

"May I have this dance?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Actually you can have every dance", she said. They hit the floor.

Nadeshiko saw Yaya and Zero in their own little corner, secluded from everyone else. She had known it would be like this from the beginning, yet still she allowed the younger girl to convince her to come. She turned to leave, almost reaching the door, but then someone's hand caught hers.

She looked up. It was one of the boys who had been at her house earlier. "You're a dancer, right?" he asked. She nodded. He leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Then please, honor me with your presence", he said almost seductively. Nadeshiko blushed faintly.

"W-what's your name?" she stuttered, and was shocked at herself. Was stuttering blushing, and her heart was pounding. But she had never been the type to get nervous with boys.

"Taichi", he said and he rested a hand on her lower back. Nadeshiko glanced up at him with the intent of telling him not to touch her that way, but something in his eyes made her mind discard the words. Instead she asked "Taichi, have we ever met before?" He smiled at her and nodded.

"But I'm not telling you how, you'll have to remember", he said. A fast song came on and they danced erotically for the majority of the night. Nadeshiko never did remember where she met him, among other things, like loyalty, and the name Hotori Tadase.

Rima sipped at her drink as the night unfolded. Just as she'd predicted she was bored. Yaya was slow dancing with Zero, Nadeshiko was dirty dancing with Taichi, Utau was dirty dancing with…well everyone, and Amu wasn't even there. She smirked thinking of ways she could use this against them, but overall, she was unsettled. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

Many MANY hours later, Rima Utau and Nadeshiko stumbled through the doors of their house. Rima was drunk, Utau was tipsy, and Nadeshiko was intoxicated with something far stronger than alcohol. They were giggling like fools. Amu shook her head, fighting the urge to write hypocrites on their foreheads in red sharpie. They did exactly what they'd accused the boys of the night before.

After deciding to save the lecture for a time when they were coherent, only one question remained.

"Where's Yaya?"

A/N: I am SO sorry. I will try to update faster. Just to clarify something Zero doesn't know about Yaya being a guardian because of the fact that Advent only has it in for Easter. Um tell me which pairings you want to see more of and which of the girls need to turn the bitch down a little. Read and Review please!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara.

It was well past midnight when Yaya appeared in front of the grand Fujisaki estate, arms linked with Zero. "Damn, I'm going to get it in the morning", the girl said as she made her way up the front steps. Zero smiled at her.

"Your friends will manage. Besides I think your friend Nadeshiko had some fun with my friend Taichi", he said. Yaya smirked in disbelief at what she'd seen only a few hours prior. She always knew that Nadeshiko was a dancer, but she never knew her friend was capable of anything so risqué.

"Taichi seems like a nice guy, but Nadeshiko is practically married", she explained.

"Boyfriend?" he asked.

"Not in so many words. I don't see why they don't just make it official and be done with it". Yaya stared into the boy's eyes. Zero had gone through the trouble of walking her home after she realized her friends had left. He was a complete gentleman; holding her hand and draping his jacket over her shoulders. Now they stood on the front steps. The moon and stars were the only illumination. Yaya, who had studied her shojo manga well, knew that he was going to kiss her now.

And she happily complied. Yaya parted her lips and allowed Zero to explore her mouth. She pressed her hands to his chest and hungrily returned the gesture. His hands slipped to her lower back as the kiss deepened. Out of the corner of her eye, Yaya saw a silhouette looking out the window. Usually, she didn't mind public displays of affection, but once she recognized the figure, she instinctively drew back.

"What's wrong Yaya-chan?" Zero questioned when he saw her distressed expression.

"N-nothing, I'm just tired. See you later", she said. Zero kissed her once more and then disappeared.

Yaya opened the door to find Kairi staring at her with a shocked expression. She looked at him in confusion. Did he really wait up for her all this time? And why is it that when he saw her making out with Zero on the steps, she felt like she was… cheating?

"Kairi", she said apprehensively. He only still stared at her. He couldn't believe the connection. Who would have possibly thought that the 'Zero-kun' Yaya spoke so fondly of was truly an Advent agent. There were many problems following the situation, but the ever rational Kairi couldn't bring himself to get over the fact that Yaya had allowed that filth to put his lips on her.

Kairi's body started to heat up. He cursed himself, knowing his fever was starting to rise. He didn't want her to see him like that.

Yaya noticed the red flush on his face. "Class prez?" she asked apprehensively. She rested her hand on his cheek. He was burning up.

"Y-Yaya-san he's-" the boy said, trying to explain what he'd realized when a coughing fit overcame him.

"Just try to relax", she coaxed while rubbing the middle of his back. Yaya shut her eyes. She was so angry with herself. She felt something for Kairi. Something she should NOT be feeling while she was with Zero.

It was virtually inevitable seeing as though they were the only two in the house not paired up yet. If there was anyone to blame, it was fate, but fate was busy at the moment so she couldn't strangle it. The next option was to blame Kairi, but since he was sick it didn't seem right to her. So she decided that she could deal with it…at least until she saw Zero again.

Nadeshiko was aware that it was just past six in the morning, but she was still up ready to make something. There was still plenty of food left over from her last cooking binge, but she needed to do something to keep her mind off that party.

The way her heart beat slower when Taichi touched her hand, and faster when he touched her thighs. The way his eyes pierced her soul and made her feel truly alive. She hung on his every word, and the way he whispered her name sent shivers up her spine.

"Nadeshiko-chan", a voice said. Nade tensed and dropped her pan on the floor.

"Oh Amu-chan, you scared me", she said "What are you doing up so early?"

"Well the boy's are sick so I figured I'd make soup or something. Looks like you beat me too it thought", Amu explained. The guilt hit Nadeshiko like a freight train. She hadn't thought of Tadase at all since her encounter with Taichi. It didn't at all change how she felt about Tadase. Taichi just happened to…intoxicate her with his presence, but that wasn't so wrong.

The pinkette scrutinized her friend.

"Um Nadeshiko did something happen last night?" she asked. The long haired girl looked down.

"No! Well kind of, it…depends on what you would call…something".

"Was there a kiss involved?" Amu asked.

"Not on the lips", she admitted remorsefully. Amu cringed, not wanting to hear the details.

"Nadeshiko why? I never thought you of all people would have a one night stand", she wailed.

"No! We didn't do _that_ we just danced and touched a little bit, and he really turned me on. Jeez you're such a spaz sometimes", Nade said.

Rima walked into the room. "Why are you two yelling?" she whined. Amu shot Nadeshiko a questioning glance. They were speaking just above a whisper. Nade mouthed 'Hung Over' and she nodded in understanding.

The petite blonde sat on a stool and cradled her head in her hands. "Need...Coffee", she moaned. Nadeshiko rolled her eyes, but brewed a pot of coffee because she wasn't trying to build up any more bad karma.

After a few sips Rima looked up. Her headache was completely gone. "H-how did you?" she asked.

"I just stirred in a little Amaretto. The stuff is anti-hangover", Nade explained. Amu rolled her eyes. Of course…get rid of a hangover with MORE liquor that makes perfect sense.

"Where'd you pick that up?" Utau asked upon entering the room.

"I spent the last few summers in Europe", Nadeshiko explained "And did anyone find Yaya-chan?"

"I heard her come in, but she wasn't in her room", Rima offered.

"She probably passed out on the couch", Amu predicted. Utau smiled devilishly.

"We could have some fun with this", she said, taking the whipped cream out of the fridge. Rima giggled. This was starting to feel like a real sleepover.

The four crept into the living room, and they found Yaya asleep on the couch, just not in the way they would have predicted. Her head was resting on Kairi's chest with his arms wrapped protectively around her waist. Amu had to suppress an 'Awwww' in fear of waking them up. Rima and Nadeshiko looked down guiltily, and Utau suddenly seemed to find the paint on the walls very interesting.

After gaping at the spectacle for a few more minutes, the girls retreated back to the kitchen.

"Ladies you need to step it up", Dia said.

"Your men are sick! You need to um fight for your love! GO GO!" Ran cheered.

"You should be cooking~desu", Su lectured.

"Or making them laugh", Kusu-kusu offered.

"But instead you party, drink, and lust, and in Amu-chan's case sit around and judge. You guys are lucky they don't leave you", Miki said bluntly "Especially because you know that if the situation was reversed they wouldn't leave you. Not even for a second!"

"You four are a disgrace to love", Eru said.

"I guess the two of us can cook", Nadeshiko said to Amu.

"I'm gonna go check on Nagi", Rima said while she picked the imaginary lint off her pajama pants.

The three girls looked at Utau in expectancy. The pop star returned it with a look of defiance. "You can all do what you want, but I refuse", she said.

"Utau-chan", Eru pleaded.

"Right on Utau, stick to your guns. No man is gonna break us!" Iru encouraged.

"Utau, you don't have a choice in the matter", Rima explained, and with that the three literally dragged her upstairs. Once in front of Kukai's door they released her. She glared at them one last time; they were really making her to this. She opened the door to find the room empty.

"He's not in there", she said in mock innocence.

"LOOK!" Amu, Rima, Nadeshiko, and the charas said in perfect unison.

_Utau's P.O.V_

_I sucked my teeth. Damn, they're all such slave drivers. Now where would I find a jock like Kukai? Soccer field…? No this is a beach; there aren't any soccer fields around here. There's too much sand. Knowing him, he's probably pissed about that and when he's pissed he works out so he's most likely in the gym downstairs. _

_Naturally I was right and the baka was down there lifting weights like a maniac. With his shirt off…sweat running down that tanned and toned body. Damn, that is such a turn on. And he's strong too. Those were 150lb weights he was tossing around so effortlessly. Those things weigh more than me! _

"_Like what you see…pop princess?" he asked. So he finally acknowledges my presence. I shrugged indifferently. _

"_Why are you lifting, soccer boy? Last time I checked you play with your feet", I said. He added another twenty pounds to the weights. _

"_The enemy is strong, so I'm gonna be stronger. I won't lose again", he said. I could definitely understand that. It's like the time that Fujiwara Zakuro sold more records than me. But when did he lose to anyone?_

"_Lose again?" I questioned. He looked at me with something I couldn't identify. _

"_I forgot….I was out clubbing, right Utau", he said. When he spoke I matched the emotion in his eyes. He was disappointed in himself...and…in me. _

_Kukai started lifting again. I rolled my eyes. "You'll ruin your health. Don't push it", I warned. He dropped the barbell again. _

"_As if you'd care", he said. Ok now he's making me mad. How was he telling ME how I felt? I could be in love with him for all he knows! Which I'm not I-I just um…whatever! But this guy doesn't know his limits, and he was gonna hurt himself if he didn't stop. So I kissed him, right on the lips. _

"_You have no idea how I feel about you", I whispered in his ear. _

"_I think you just gave it away", he said, and then he kissed me. Damn it! This guy is going to get me sick…but I don't think I care. _

_End of P.O.V_

Zero's P.O.V

I walked into Easter…I mean Advent's headquarters. It's been Easter's for so long even I still get confused. "You're late man", Taichi said.

"Naw, the rest of the world's early. Besides I missed the train cuz I walked my girl home so it's all good", I said. He nodded his head.

"Oh by the way, I asked Yaya and that girl you like…she's married", I told him. Taichi smirked.

"Yea, to me", he said. I shook my head.

"Just give it up man. I know her type, rich and spoiled but still a sweetie? That girl is not gonna fall for you".

Taichi smirked. "If you say so", he said. Some people really don't learn. I went up to the bosses' office.

"You're late. Again", he said. I shrugged 'Well good morning to you too'. Damn, why do I even work here?

"Here's your mission", he said, handing me a piece of paper. "Go to that address and kill that man". Great… more blood on my hands, because a morning murder is just what we all need?

"Is that all?" I asked. This guy was really killing my mood, and I was just chillin with Yaya-chan so it was a pretty good one.

"Yes. But you will not fail me this time", he said. I shook my head again. The things we put up with for money.

A/N: Something is about to happen. I can't say what but a lot of drama is about to start. And can anyone guess where Nadeshiko knows Taichi from? Anyway, R&R people.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer:…..come on you people know I don't own Shugo chara because of the lack of this plot on the show.

Rima woke up from her nap to find that she was being kissed…all over. She grinned while tracing a finger over her boyfriend's abs. "I see you're feeling better", she noted. Nagihiko smirked and lifted her leg. He let his lips linger on inner thigh. Rima clutched the sheets under her, barely suppressing a squeal of delight.

"Can you stop teasing me please Na-gi-hi-ko?" she asked in an uncharacteristically sweet voice. He pretended to think it over.

"Nope. Sorry Rima-chan, but you started it", he informed her.

"Did I?" the petite blonde asked wryly.

"You", he said accusingly "Came in to my room in that blue lingerie when you knew I was too sick to do anything to you".

"I was only trying to make you feel better", she said trying to sound innocent. Her eyes however gave away her amusement. Rima pulled Nagihiko's shirt off and threw it somewhere. She then proceeded to remove her tank top. After crawling on top of him, Rima began to kiss Nagihiko hungrily. She allowed his hands to explore the entirety of her body in search of places he hadn't touched before.

Rima welcomed the waves of pleasure as they crashed on her and smiled in contentment as she was pulled deeper and further into pure ecstasy.

* * *

Ikuto sighed in irritation as well as amusement. After living with Rima and Nagihiko for a year and a half, he had grown accustomed to things that go bump in the night; sometimes _all night _depending on how tiring the day's mission had been. Things also went bump in the morning from time to time, but he learned how to tune them out with his laziness.

Despite all that, the way he saw it, nothing should _ever_ go bump at 3:15 in the afternoon unless a certain blonde who could still easily pose as an elementary school student wanted to deal with the displeasure of walking into a convenience store to buy a pregnancy test and having the clerk ask if it was for her mommy.

"Ikuto…what _is_ that?" Amu asked, referring to the noise coming from the room next to theirs.

"The sound of you becoming a godmother nya", Yoru murmured.

"What?" the pinkette asked, not catching the comment.

"Trust me, you don't want to know", Ikuto said. Suddenly his phone started ringing.

"Yo"

"_Ikuto-kun you must return to Tokyo"_, Sanjou Yukairi informed him.

"What?" the teenager questioned. His sister's manager rarely called him unless there was a dire emergency.

"_I'll explain the details when you get here, but HURRY! This is important!"_ she said.

"Fine, okay I'll be there by tomorrow", Ikuto said.

"What was that about?" Amu questioned.

"I don't know. I was barely listening", he said. "But we're leaving tomorrow. My team is at least". Amu frowned. These past few days she almost forgot there was a distinction.

"Well in that case", the girl said placing herself in Ikuto's lap. "We might as well make it last".

Ikuto gave his signature smirk; somehow he was becoming a bit fonder of things that go bump in the afternoon.

* * *

Tired of the incriminating sounds coming from upstairs, Tadase and Nadeshiko decided to visit the beach.

"Nadeshiko-chan, when did you learn to surf like that?" Tadase asked. The girl was once again taking multi-talented to a new level.

"Just something I picked up in Hawaii a few summers ago. It's no big deal", she said offhandedly "Sandwich?" she offered taking one out of the picnic basket.

"Arigato. You'll really make an amazing wife someday", he tried to conceal a smile.

"What do you mean by that Tadase-kun?" she asked coyly. Nadeshiko ran her hand through her wet hair which like her wet shirt clung to her body. She bat her eyelashes in a most enchanting way.

Of course, Tadase started blushing in a fashion only suitable for Amu or a cherry tomato. If he was aware of Nade's tricks, then he most definitely was not letting on. "Well to start you're a beautiful woman", he said.

"You're clever, talented, worldly, intelligent, outgoing, warm, gentle, and passionate. Any guy would be lucky to spend a day with you, let alone their entire lives", Tadase said while looking down.

"T-Tadase-kun, you're embarrassing me. I'm not all that special", she said, modest as ever.

Tadase rested his hand on top of hers. "It's just that I don't compliment you enough. Nadeshiko, you're the most incredible person I've never met. I don't know where the guardians would be without you…where I'd be without you. What I'm trying to say here is that I think I'm in…"

And sure enough the sentence that would have changed everything was interrupted by a phone call. Tadase managed to stifle the string of colorful language that came to mind when he saw the caller I.D.

"Are you serious? They were so close. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Temari ranted.

"Who has such blatant disrespect for a king's courtship of his prospective queen!" Kiseki demanded.

"There was nothing prospective about it. All they're missing is the ring", Temari corrected.

"Speaking of which, where did you get that necklace?" the king chara questioned.

"It's from Musashi-kun. He said that since I'm his personal geisha, as my samurai he would give me undying love and protection. Isn't it romantic", Temari mused behind her kimono.

"HIS WHAT! You're not some mere geisha girl, you are a QUEEN. That slimy samurai is beneath you! What has he done to you? I'll kill him, I swear!" Kiseki yelled.

"What are you getting so mad for?" the elegant chara asked. Kiseki was always one to blow things out of proportion, but still he never got this upset, even when people called him a prince.

"Nothing. Nothing at all", he said emotionlessly. Being Tadase's chara Kiseki thought he'd seen total obliviousness, but apparently he had been mistaken.

"Who was that on the phone?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Nikaidou-sensei. Apparently there was an emergency. He sounded kind of frantic and said that he needed the guardians to come back to Tokyo as soon as possible", Tadase explained.

Nadeshiko pouted. "Um Tadase-kun is there any way as soon as possible can be maybe…the end of the week?" she asked.

"Sorry Nade-chan, but this might be serious. We can come back though, you know without all the extra…well you know", he said. Nadeshiko smiled.

"I'd like that". And then they left in search of the others.

Kairi was in the midst of an inner struggle. No matter how much he hated it, he couldn't bring himself to tell Yaya about Zero. He recently came to the realization that Yaya was a sweet girl and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. He still could not comprehend the feeling he had when she woke up inside his arms, but he knew that he wanted to have it again. She was just too beautiful. Kairi felt as though he could stare at her for a lifetime.

"Hey class prez…what are you looking at?" the brown haired girl asked.

"You"

Yaya blushed while Kairi smirked. That was definitely the desired response. Once again Yaya wanted to slap herself. She was with Zero which meant she was not supposed to blush at Kairi. Tadase and Nadeshiko entered the house and Yaya released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Yuiki-san, please pack your things. We have to leave", Tadase said.

Yaya groaned. "But I was actually enjoying this! Na-chi, did you do the thing?" she asked.

"Yaya-chan, that's not gonna work_ every_ time. Where's Amu and Kukai?" the long haired girl questioned.

"Kukai is in the Jacuzzi with Utau and Amu-chi is making out with Ikuto upstairs", she said. The king and queens chairs cringed. Neither of them wanted to risk seeing anything too emotionally scaring.

"Yaya-chan, I'll bake you some brownies when we get back if you go tell Amu and Kukai to pack", Nadeshiko said. Yaya pondered this for all of ten seconds before her gluttonous side got the best of her.

"Okay", she said and then took off.

Kairi watched the whole ordeal in amazement. No matter how much she tried to deny it, Nadeshiko really was Nagi's sister.

Hours later the two groups arrived back in Tokyo. "What the hell does Nikaidou want from us at this hour", Kukai said, as the Guardians entered Seiyo Academy.

"I don't know but that guy has some nerve", Diachi said.

"I know right", Ran agreed.

The messy haired school teacher opened the door.

"Guardians, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I felt it would be rude not to inform you right away", he said.

"Inform us of what", Tadase asked, growing tired of the ambiguousness.

Nikaidou sighed, not knowing how they were going to take it. "Last night, the founder of the guardians, Amakawa Tsukasa was killed, along with Easter's director Hoshina".

A/N: Sooo two people died instead of one, and I'll tell you right now Zero did not kill both of them. In the next chapter, be prepared for a ridiculous amount of drama! Review please!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: No ownership… :(

"_School chairman and founding Guardian Amakawa Tsukasa was killed last night, as well as the Easter Company's Director Hoshina"._

The words of Nikaidou-sensei hung in the air. "B-but Tsukasa-san can't be dead…h-he's Tsukasa-san", said a tearful Yaya. After that the room fell completely silent. Being the new girl, Amu didn't know Tsukasa nearly as well as the other guardians; in fact she had only met the man twice.

Nikaidou hung his head in resignation. "My sentiments exactly Yuiki-san. But this still needs to be explained to the students. Seeing as how close he was to the guardians, it would be best if you all did that. You kids should go home; you probably all need some time to let this to sink in".

The teenagers turned to leave, numerous questions lingered on their minds. "Hotori-kun, Fujisaki-san, May I have a minute with you two?" the school teacher questioned. The king and queen's chair turned around.

"What is it Nikaidou-sensei", the long haired girl asked.

"In your absence, there have been rumors. We have reason to believe that agents of the Advent Corporation are responsible for the recent murders".

"They're after the Embryo?" Tadase questioned.

Nikaidou nodded once. "That's why they want you guardians out of the way, as well as Easter", he explained. "I'm not telling you this for you to go crazed with revenge. I'm just asking you to keep your guard up, and also it may be beneficial to be a bit more civil towards Easter", the teacher advised.

"Arigato Nikaidou-sensei, we will remember that", Nadeshiko said. As a Fujisaki she had been trained for years to control her emotions at all times. She grabbed Tadase's arm and practically dragged him outside.

"Great, now we have to write some speech and tell everyone he fell through a black hole or something", the king's chair said. Nadeshiko eyed him warily. She knew that Tadase was getting over a cold and didn't want to risk him getting sick because he was overstressing himself.

"Don't worry about that Hotori-kun. I'll think of something. You just go home and sleep", she said sweetly.

Tadase couldn't help but smile at this. She really was his angel. "Arigato Nadeshiko-chan", he said before they parted ways.

The same night, Ikuto was summoned to Easter's new headquarters. He found himself in a room surrounded by old men in suits. Needless to say everyone's favorite hentai neko was greatly uncomfortable, but he had no intention of letting them know that.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto?" one of the geezers inferred.

"Yo", he said in all nonchalance. He wondered what these people could possibly want out of his valuable teenage life.

"Hoshina Kazuomi, your stepfather was murdered last night", he informed.

"And…" Ikuto said with a shrug. If they expected him to be grief stricken, they were greatly mistaken. "All of the time I spent with that man was torturous".

Naturally several appalled gasps followed this comment. The man in the suit cleared his throat and hints of a smirk were visible in his eyes.

"At any rate Tsukiyomi-kun, after the passing of Hoshina-san, you are next in line to take charge of Easter".

Ikuto's eyes widened. It wasn't as though he didn't know this was coming, but only now did he realize that running a large scale company that was also a secret organization was going to be… hard work, and a lot of it at that. For the naturally lazy Tsukiyomi Ikuto, loads of hard work was a most unappealing notion.

"I'm gonna have to decline", Ikuto said emotionlessly.

"Damn straight", Yoru said in approval.

"I'm afraid that's impossible. You have inherited this company, you can't escape this fate unless you run away…like your father. You of all people know how badly that will end".

Ikuto clenched his fists. He never desired to punch someone in the face so much. The man walked up to him and handed him a stack of papers. "You can start with that. Director Tsukiyomi".

Rima caught Nagihiko leaving early the next morning. "Nagi, where are you going?" the petite blonde asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm just heading to the bank", he explained.

"Again" the girl said in astonishment. She was no stranger to the fact that he was loaded, but he always seemed to be at the bank lately.

"Yea, you know how my family thinks I'm at a boarding school in America?" he asked. Rima nodded.

"Well they also think that they're paying tuition so every month I put the checks in a private account. Besides Nadeshiko, no one has a clue", Nagihiko explained.

Rima raised an eyebrow. "You're such a con artist", she said, thinking of the FREE private tutoring they got at Easter, but then she paused. "How much 'tuition' has your parents paid so far?" she questioned.

"Hmm let's see 8,500 American dollars for eighteen months…that's 153,000 U.S dollars which would be 13,256,562 yen", the boy explained as if it were the most mundane thing in the world.

Rima was wide eyed at the astounding number. "W-w-what kind of school! How are your parents not broke? And what are you going to do with all this money anyway?" She questioned.

Nagihiko kissed her forehead and smiled at her incomprehension. "Do you mean before or after you marry me?" he asked.

Rima blushed at the prospect but decided to play along. "After".

"Well I'll have to get you a house in the country of your choosing. Then there's stocking libraries with gag manga and hot chocolate. Naturally there would have to be a pool, and a garden, and a basketball court. Butlers and maids to pay…and knowing you I'd have to pay them double", he mused.

"Sounds like a fairy tale skipped right to the happy ending", Rima commented.

"Well you are my queen", he said teasingly. Rima once again began to blush.

"Just go to the bank", she ordered while climbing back into bed.

When Amu woke up she decided that school was the last place she wanted to be. A certain cat-boy's lazy antics were starting to rub off on her. She got dressed and went to Easter's new headquarters (Rima texted her the address). When she got there, she was surprised to find Ikuto actually doing something. He was hunched over a stack of papers with an agonized expression on his face.

Amu took a seat on the desk and crossed her legs flirtatiously. "Hey Ikuto", she said. He barely looked up at her.

"Hey, Ikutooo I'm talking to you", she said and flicked his ear, much to his annoyance. Ikuto gave her a tired look.

"I'm not in the mood right now strawberry", he said, sounding a lot like a kindergarten teacher coaxing a problem child.

"Well excuse us then", Miki said.

Amu hopped off the table and left the room, clearly unhappy with being snubbed.

"This is why I like the guardians better", Ran commented. Amu wandered about aimlessly, trying to gain her bearings. She stopped when she overheard Utau's conversation with Kairi.

"_The situation with Advent is becoming more serious. I wonder if Ikuto can handle what's up ahead." Kairi stated. There was a sense of impending doom to his words. _

"_Definitely not with Amu around. She's a nice girl and all, but right now she's more of a burden than anything else. No one's gonna go after Advent because we're all stuck here focused on protecting her. At this point she's holding everyone back. I don't even know why the guardians keep her around at this point", Utau affirmed. _

"_You're right. Amu-san is starting to serve as a nuisance in the greater scheme of things". _

Amu stifled a gasp. She couldn't believe her ears. So this was what her 'friends' truly thought of her. What hurt the most was the sincerity in their words. They actually thought she was useless. This led her mind to more questions. Were Utau and Kairi the only ones who thought that way? Did Rima, Nagihiko, Nadeshiko, Tadase, Yaya, and Kukai feel the same? Did Ikuto? The notion of this threw her into a state of panic. Was she destined to lose everything because of her weakness?

Back at Seiyo Nadeshiko delivered an elegy with perfect grace. Not even a quiver was evident in her voice, contrary to the teary eyed student body. Amu slipped into the auditorium unnoticed and stood besides the guardians, all of whom had solemn looks on their faces, including the usually immature Ace's chair.

After the dreaded assembly Amu made her way to the secret sanctum of the royal garden in search of a place to sulk in peace. However it seemed as though Tadase had beat her to it.

"Oh um Tadase-kun…I can leave if you want to be alone", the girl said sheepishly.

"No it's alright Amu-chan", the boy said stoically. Amu's eyes widened in shock. It was like everyone she knew decided to pick today to be in this horrible mood. Suddenly, the pinkette could take no more. She burst into tears, resting her head in her hands.

"Amu-chan, are you alright?" the boy questioned. He never liked seeing girls cry, especially ones close to him.

"T-Tadase-kun _(sniff)_ A-am I a _(sob)_ burden on everyone?" she cried.

"Of course not", the blonde said without skipping a beat "what would make you think that?"

Amu tearfully reiterated the saddening events of the day and then came to the groundbreaking conclusion that she was useless and couldn't do anything. Tadase shook his head and sighed. The only way to get through this would be brutally honest.

"Amu-chan, please don't repeat what I'm about to say. Utau is a crazy bitch who was in love with her own brother, and Kairi is a stoic nerd who doesn't understand anything about real life. I'll admit they're okay people but you shouldn't let them brand you. Besides that you are nowhere near useless", the princely boy said.

"Really?" Amu asked between sniffles. She was getting lost in his eyes as she did many times before, but this time it wasn't sparkle or charm that drew her in. She was beginning to like him as a person and things would only go downhill from there.

"Tsukasa-san once told me that people only find their true strength when protecting someone important to them. You couldn't possibly be a weakness when you're the reason everyone has to keep fighting. Tsukasa-san wouldn't lie so I know it's true. Besides that, if it wasn't for you we couldn't be in the same room as Easter for five minutes without there being multiple casualties", he said.

Amu stared at Tadase in awe. Coming from anyone else these kind words would have meant next to nothing, but here he was rebuilding her confidence in front of her. It amazed her, and before she knew it her lips were pressed against her. Shocked at first Tadase froze but then kissed back slowly. Soon the two were making out on the couch, both with little regard to anything but the other's lips.

Yaya walked downstairs with purpose. She was sure she left a box of pocky somewhere and was on mission to find it. While there she saw an interesting sight; Tadase and Amu making out. She almost screamed. Why was Tadase making out with AMU and not NADESHIKO! She worked to friggin hard on the Tadeshiko pairing to watch it go up in flames like this. And what about Ikuto? She would definitely have a few words with both of them, tomorrow. For now, she backed out of the room and went upstairs to the main garden…where she found Nadeshiko…on her way down.

"Nadeshiko, don't go down there!" Yaya shouted.

"Why? I need to get my book bag", Nadeshiko explained.

"There's um a rat down there; A huge black one with big beady eyes". Yaya smirked inwardly when she saw her friend shutter. There was no way Nadeshiko would come anywhere close to a rat. Black belt or not, there would always be a phobia with rich girls and rats.

"That's mean Yaya-chan, is there a reason you don't want me to go down there?" Nadeshiko asked. Yaya groaned, unable to come up with an answer. She almost forgot how perceptive her friend was. The girl was almost impossible to fool.

When Nadeshiko came downstairs, the sight was worse than it had been before. Tadase was shirtless on top of Amu kissing her ravenously. While the pinkette whose blouse and blazer had been discarded sighed in content. No matter how the Fujisaki rationalized it, it just was not a good look.

They both seemed to notice the portentous aura she was emanating and simultaneously looked up and saw her hurt expression. Nadeshiko blinked back tears. This was the second time in her life she had been majorly betrayed.

"Nadeshiko", Tadase said, looking down guiltily.

"Oh no, don't stop on my account. You don't own me an explanation", she said with steel in her voice. The girl walked away, unable to look at them any longer.

Tadase was disgusted with himself. He couldn't believe that he hurt her, the person he cherished above all else. And for what, ten minutes of utter stupidity. There were some mistakes in life that no matter how regrettable could never be fixed. He prayed he didn't just make one of them and lost the love of his life.

A/N: No the story is not going to become Tadamu…Tadase and Amu just majorly screwed up, depression tends to do that to people. Now Nade knows and we all know Ikuto has ways of finding out everything…suspense. And let's hope that in her despair Nade doesn't do anything too stupid. R&R please!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara

Ikuto stared lazily at the wall having given up on his paperwork hours ago. He figured eventually he'd make Kairi do it, or maybe Nagihiko, though he suspected the later would laugh in his face upon hearing the proposal. He was only a pushover when it came to Rima after all.

"Ikuto-nya", Yoru said floating into the room.

"Yo", the boy responded wondering what stupidity the cat chara would force upon him today.

"Well Temari told Dia who told Rhythm who was said he was going to beat Tadase up so I asked why and I wanted to help because I've always wanted to jump Kiseki which is probably because you want to jump Tadase. Why do we hate Tadase, Ikuto?" the chara rambled on in circles all but forgetting the topic at hand.

"Yoru", Ikuto said flicking the tiny cat's forehead. "What happened".

"Tadase was making out with Nadeshiko in the Royal Garden and Nadeshiko walked in on them nya", Yoru explained.

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. When kiddy king finally decides to grow a pair, he couldn't do it with his own girl? "Yoru, are you sure you heard this right cuz if I find out you didn't…" he let the unspoken threat hang in the air. Yoru shuttered but quickly recovered.

"Yep, I even heard it from Miki and she wouldn't lie to me nya".

"Well then", Ikuto said, jumping out his window and into a nearby tree. "I have every right to do what I'm about to do".

_Nadeshiko's P.O.V_

_After I walked in on Amu and Tadase, I ran. I ran and now I'm on some park bench curled up in a ball that reminds me all too much of a cross between a hobo and someone I can't stand, and I don't think I'll be moving anytime soon. _

_I can't believe this is happening. Amu-chan is my best friend. I know she can be pretty dense sometimes, but I thought even _she _would know how I __feel __scratch that how I __**felt **__about Tadase…I sighed. Who am I kidding it's definitely still feel. _

_And don't even get me started about Tadase! That fucking dick wad! I trusted him; I took care of him, and no matter what anyone said about it I ALWAYS had his back. I thought he had mine too. I really thought he cared for me too, the way he always got so jealous when I was with other boys and showered me with compliments. It was only a matter of time before I fell for him, despite his COUNTLESS faults. _

_I just thought it was only a matter of time until he worked up the nerve to ask me out but then he does THIS. And the worst part is that I can't even bring myself to be mad at him. I'm highly disappointed and a bit angry with the situation, but something in me just won't allow me to be mad at him. Not that I was gonna let him know that. I'm gonna make him grovel for having the audacity to take my heart and smash it…into a million pieces (sniffle). _

"_Ya know, you shouldn't waste tears on the likes of people who cause them", a voice said. I looked up. It was Taichi, that boy I danced with at Yaya's boyfriend's party. Under different circumstances I might've blushed at the memory. _

_He wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb. I was shocked. I hadn't even realized I was crying. "That's an oxymoron", I stated, referring to his previous comment. _

"_So is the bastard who cheated on you", he bantered. _

"_Ooh good point I like him Nadeshiko-chan", Temari said. I shook my head…of course she would. _

"_Well he didn't exactly cheat on me because we never technically went out", I explained. I looked down realizing how stupid and emotional I must sound. I hated being like this. _

_Taichi shrugged indifferently. "Still stupid. Anyway, let me walk you home, it's getting late and psycho's come out at night", he said. _

_I smiled shyly at him and nodded. "I'd like that…but just know it's not because I'm not capable of walking myself home". _

_He smirked "But of course Shiko-chan", he said slipping an arm around my waist. Taichi was fast as usual but at least HE knew who to be fast with. _

_End of P.O.V_

As Tadase walked home from one of the most exhausting days of his life he felt a cold glare hit his back as well as a feeling of impending doom. He knew it could only be one of two people; Nadeshiko or Ikuto.

Suddenly a figure crept up to him and punched him square in the face. The impact left him reeling. No question. It was most definitely Ikuto.

"How dare you touch the king you ruffian!" Kiseki shouted.

"That's what the bastard gets nya", Yoru commented smugly.

"Yo kiddy king, if you ever touch my girl again I'll be sure to kill you", Ikuto threatened.

"Whatever you thieving cat. I really don't care about you and your empty threats right now", the blonde said. It was true. The kings chair was preoccupied with picturing his life, or lack thereof without a certain long haired beauty.

A look of recognition crossed Ikuto's face. "I didn't tell you to screw over the only person on earth crazy enough to deal with your ass", he said before disappearing into the night.

Amu lied in bed in her pajamas staring up at the ceiling. She had no clue why she was freaking out. Only three people knew that she made out with Tadase and that was her Tadase and Nadeshiko…and possibly Yaya. Tadase was Ikuto's bitter enemy and neither Nadeshiko nor Yaya associated with him. So there was no way Ikuto could've found out…unless the charas said something.

She turned sharply to her four Shugo Charas. "Hey, did you guys say anything about what happened today?"

"Nope!" Ran said.

"No~desu", Su chirped.

"Well um I might've mentioned it to Rhythm earlier", Dia said sheepishly. Amu gave a sigh of relief. Knowing Rhythm he would probably just keep it to himself until he found an opportunity to use it as blackmail. She would be perfectly fine once no one told-

"Amu-chan I-I told Yoru…gomen nasai!" Miki said.

"Y-Y-YOU WHAT!" Amu screeched at an unholy volume. "WHAT'S IKUTO GONNA SAY! OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN AHHHHH! IKUTO'S GONNA HATE ME!"

"Who could hate a cute little strawberry?" asked Ikuto who was on her balcony.

"I-Ikuto", Amu said while looking down in shame. Ikuto came to her bed and moved her face to look at him.

"Amu, I don't know exactly what happened between you and kiddy king but I already pounded his ass for it so there's no need for me to be angry with you", he explained. Amu nodded, she was stunned. As wrong and biased as it was, she really did love his logic.

"Now…there's only one thing left to settle", the neko boy said.

"What?" Amu asked. She cringed inwardly, feeling stupid for thinking she would be let off the hook so easily.

"I need to know. Am I better than Tadase?" he asked with a sly smirk.

"Of course, no comparison", the pinkette said as her lips crashed upon his.

"All is forgiven~desu", Su said happily.

"Belch they're disgusting nya", Yoru commented. Miki blushed and glanced at him shyly.

"Doesn't have to be", she said.

"Nya?" Yoru asked.

"Oh will you get a room!" Ran shouted.

"Okay", Miki said. She then dragged Yoru into the plaid box Amu keeps her eggs in and shut the door loudly. Dia shook her head. If she didn't have Rhythm in that position tomorrow there was no justice left in the world.

At the next morning's guardian meeting many things were amiss. There was Tadase's black eye along with Yaya's death glare and Amu's ridiculously good mood. But the most unsettling change of all was the blatant lack of Nadeshiko.

"Yo, where's Nade?" Kukai asked. He never knew the girl to miss a meeting.

"She stayed home", Yaya said crisply, glaring at Tadase. Yaya considered Nadeshiko as her older sister, so anyone who hurt her would feel Yaya's wrath.

"Is she sick?" Kukai questioned.

"Yea", Yaya said dryly. "Dislocated heart".

"Alright, what's going on here?" the soccer star asked. He couldn't leave to hang with Utau for ten minutes without some big calamity starting. After Yaya texted him the situation Kukai looked between Amu and Tadase. Under different circumstances he would have congratulated him, but now he was too disappointed to be proud.

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand. This new threat posed by the Advent cooperation", Tadase started, sensing the awkwardness.

"None of that", Kukai said, grabbing the king's chair by the back of his shirt. Tadase was about to get his ass handed to him. Once out of earshot Kukai released the boy.

"Tadase, you have done some stupid things in your lifetime but this is just ridiculous. It's like I've taught you nothing about the female mind. First of all after Nade caught you and Amu what did she do?" the older boy asked.

"She ran away", Tadase answered.

"And you didn't go after her? That's mistake number one. If you had ran after her and begged for forgiveness you might be in a better spot right now".

Tadase frowned. "Well I would have except for the fact that she basically told me to leave her the hell alone".

Kukai face palmed. "Mistake number two! It's friggin Nadeshiko; you of all people should know she doesn't mean half the words that come out of her mouth. 'You don't owe me an explanation' after you making out with Amu is almost as bad as 'I'm fine' after she got shot. Come on man, step it up!"

"That is true", Kiseki said. "Because of your foolishness Temari refuses to speak to me! The nerve of that woman…denying an audience with the king!"

"Anyway…" Kukai said not even wanting to get into that one. "Mistake number three; you never come between a girl and her best friend. Amu will be forgiven tomorrow but you're branded for life".

Now it was Tadase's turn to face palm. "I am such a fucking idiot", he said. "What am I going to do? What if I never get her back? You know how Nadeshiko is; she can hold a grudge for years".

Kukai sighed. "You have one chance. It's make or break now. You need to tell her you love her before she comes to her senses and realizes she's better off without you. This is not the time to beat around the bush. Just pray she hasn't found her rebound yet".

Nadeshiko lied curled up in her bed. She woke up in the morning, on time. Then put on her uniform and crawled right back into bed. Her stomach hurt and she was still tired and she just did not have the will to drag herself to school, to the guardian meeting no less. She wasn't ready to look at Tadase right now, let alone confront him. She just wanted to lie in bed and never move again.

"Nadeshiko-sama, you have a visitor. A very handsome young man", said one of the maids.

"Is he blonde?" she asked.

"No, brown hair, tall and extremely handsome", the maid reported.

"Okay, send him in please", Nade said. Moments later, none other than Taichi came through the door.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"Bringing chocolate to a pretty girl", he said, placing a box of Godiva chocolate on her nightstand.

"Godiva, nice", Temari said in approval.

"Don't you have school or something?" she questioned. Taichi shrugged.

"I blew it off to see my favorite girl", he said nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets.

"And who would that be?" Nade asked coyly.

Taichi smirked. "If I said it was you, I would have to this", he said leaving a kiss on her forehead. Then his phone vibrated. He gave an annoyed look and then smiled at her apologetically.

"I have to go, but I'll come see you later Shiko-chan", he said. Nade smiled as things became even more interesting.

A/N: I should tell you this now so you're not too surprised; Taichi is not as perfect as Nade thinks he is. A lot more will occur in the coming chapters so get ready! Read and Review please!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara

"How's the mission going?" Miko asked as Taichi walked into Advent Headquarters. The boy shrugged.

"So so". The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"You're the great Taichi", she exalted. "You just pulled off a high scale murder and you can't charm the little Queen out of her guardian secrets?"

"Dude you're going soft", Zero commented.

"It's not even like that. It was easy to get close to her. She had a fight with her boyfriend or something like that…It's just that", Taichi tried to explain.

"You're starting to like her. And after this whole thing ends you don't want her to hate you", Miko summarized. Taichi's eyes widened. The way she did that always scared the shit out of him.

"Falling for the enemy?" Zero questioned. "It's not like you man". Taichi glared. As usual his best friend attempted to sound intelligent in the midst of his ignorance.

"Do you know anything about that girl you've been hanging out with?"

"You mean Yaya-chan?"

"Yea, Yuiki Yaya: Ace chair of the friggin guardians!" Miko said. At this, Zero's face palled several shades. He couldn't have one girlfriend without there being some huge controversy!

"That's okay", he said finally.

"How on EARTH is that okay!" Miko shouted. Zero shrugged.

"Love takes compromise. The ace is the guardian's lowest position anyway. It won't be too hard to make her change her mind". Miko rolled her eyes. Boys were so dense.

"You can't have her Zero, just build a bridge and get the hell over it! Anyway Taichi, the mission was to split up the king and queen. What you do with her afterwards is all you; just don't let it blow up in your face later".

"How would that happen?" he questioned.

"You can't keep harassing the same person's life. They hold grudges. That's king's chair is gonna shoot you. You killed his father figure and now you're trying to steal his girl".

"Please", Taichi said smugly. "I could beat that guy even it I was blind, deaf, and paraplegic".

_Tadase's P.O.V_

_I am climbing up the side of a three story building at midnight. Why, you ask, would someone as seemingly sensible as me be doing such a thing? There's only one answer; her. That Fujisaki Nadeshiko is the only person on Earth who could make me do something so utterly ridiculous. She's emotional, temperamental, manipulative and demanding, but at the same token I can't live without her. _

_On my third attempt, (yes third I fell twice) I finally reached her balcony. Does every girl in Japan have one of those? I tried to open the window, but unfortunately it was locked. I just had to get the sensible one didn't I? _

_I saw her doing something on the computer, probably on facebook as usual. I knocked politely, and then she turned around, saw me and then put her headphones in. I sighed; so she was going to be difficult…as usual. Well at least she's not sick. Despite myself I got a little worried when I didn't see her in school. She usually didn't miss days unless we were taking 'guardian vacations' or she was practically dying. _

"_Temari, open this door right now. I demand you ask king", Kiseki shouted. I never thought too much about my chara, but at least I can say he has balls. Temari floated to the window and glared at him._

"_You don't demand me to do anything, you two timing bastards! Nadeshiko doesn't want to see his face and I don't want to see yours so just leave us alone!" the feisty chara demanded. _

"_Who's two timing? They don't date, and if anyone is two timing it's you! If I see you with Musashi one more time I will banish him!" _

_Damn, is my inner self really that conceited…and jealous? _

"_You are an irritant…GO AWAY!" she commanded. Kiseki turned to me and glared with a frightening amount of malice. _

"_You ruined it for me", he accused. That's just splendid. I didn't just ruin my own love life; I screwed up my chara's too. _

"_Look I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking with Amu-chan. She was sad, and I was sad and neither of us knew what we were doing. To tell you the truth, I don't like Amu-chan, I only flirted with her to get her to join the guardians. The only girl I've ever had eyes for is Nadeshiko. I'd do anything for her", I explained. _

"_Well why didn't you tell her that?" Kiseki barked. "Then we wouldn't be in this mess!"_

"_She's way too good for me and sooner or later she was going to realize that. I would rather keep her as a friend than end up losing her forever. But I ended up messing up anyway. Now she'll never know how I feel about her". I was only mid monologue when the window swung open._

_End of P.O.V._

"Oh will you stop with the Greek tragedy already?"

Coming from a prominent family full of relatives vying for the colossal fortune left to her (and Nagihiko if he ever bothers to show up), Nadeshiko was trained at an early age in the art of deceit. She was taught to do little things to get information, such as putting in headphones with no music to insinuate she wasn't listening while she was hanging on every word.

"Do you want to know what your problem is?" Tadase was silent, knowing better than to interrupt her rant.

"You have no confidence in anything! Not in yourself and not in me. What the frig does it take with you?"

"What are you talking about?" Tadase questioned. "I thought you were just mad about Amu-chan".

"Oh I'm not mad. I'm fucking irate! I've known you for most of my life and you barely touch me, except when you're man handling me and then you practically maul my best friend. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel, Tadase? Am I that unattractive to you?" Nadeshiko asked. Her voice cracked slightly at the end.

Tadase sighed. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. "Nadeshiko-chan…what do I have to do to make us okay?" he asked. The long haired girl raised a curious eyebrow.

"So there's an us now?" she asked. It was clear by this point who was in control.

The blonde met her eyes hesitantly. "Well there should be", he admitted.

"There should be laws against homework but we all still have to suffer through calculus", Nade retorted. Tadase was beginning to panic. This was not going as he planned.

"Kiss her you baka!" Temari insisted. The elegant chara then forced the king's chairs head towards her bearers. Needless to say it was the most awkward kiss either of them ever experienced, but it had the desired effect. Both teenagers were left speechless and were blushing profusely.

"S-see you in the morning Fujisaki-san"

"Bye H-Hotori-kun…oh and what happened to your eye?" she questioned, referring to the dark circle. Tadase scratched the back of his head.

"Um Ikuto came and…"

"Oh I get it now", she said waving the boy off.

Utau walked inside the concert hall in which her new show would premier. After all the drama surrounding Easter lately, all she wanted to do was throw herself into her music and get on her stage.

"Okay, let's go through the third number again. It has to be perfect for my first concert", a voice said. Utau looked to the stage to see a black haired girl standing on it with a microphone in hand and a smug expression on her face. Utau hated the girl already.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my stage?" the blonde pop star asked.

"Yamano Miko. This is my stage now. And I am going to ruin you".

A/N: this is the new chapter! I wasn't going to make Tadase and Nade make up so fast, but I couldn't help it! Advent is about to take a turn for the worse. Read and Review please!


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: I dont own Shugo Chara!_

_(Amu's P.O.V)_

_Yesterday was a long day, I mused as I walked into the Royal Garden with Kukai and Yaya. When we entered, we were greeted by the sight of Tadase and Nadeshiko. They were making out on the table. Hey, that's unsanitary! We eat off that thing! Oh well, at least they made up. _

"_Nice panties Na-chi!" Yaya called. "Where'd you get them?" she asked. I looked down curiously…those were some nice panties. _

_Nadeshiko hopped off the table. She blushed scarlet and pulled her skirt down further than it was designed to be. _

"_Nice legs Nadeshiko", said Kukai, who tilted his head up to prevent a nosebleed. _

"_Souma-kun, could you please not look at my girlfriend like that?" Tadase said while stepping protectively in front of Nadeshiko. My expression softened as I looked at the couple. They were so good together…kind of like me and Ikuto. _

"_Girlfriend huh?" Kukai asked. The two nodded sheepishly. _

"_FINALLY OMG OMG YAYA IS SO HAPPY! YAYA THOUGHT SHE WOULD GROW OLD AND DIE BEFORE YOU TWO WENT OUT! HORRAY FOR LOVE", the brown haired girl chanted. I shook my head. How much sugar could she have possibly consumed before nine in the morning?_

"_Amu-chan I sense X-eggs", Ran said. _

"_Easter?" I questioned. _

"_No this feels different", Tadase said. "…It has to be Advent"._

_But who was Advent? _

_End of P.O.V_

Utau was trying to write a song. She'd done some research. Shirogane Miko. Daughter of a music composer and a supermodel, the girl had been singing her entire life. She lived in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong and now returned to Japan to launch her new album or in the opinion of some, ruin Utau's life.

Hoshina Utau was not Japan's number one idol for no reason. She didn't have to resort to dirty tactics like stealing someone else's venue to be the best. Any artist with self respect would never stoop so low. All she had to do was write a new single and everything would be fine. The only problem was that someone was blasting Shirogane Miko's song on the goddamn radio, and it was driving her insane!

"Will you turn that shit off!" she screamed out the door. Ikuto blinked at her like she'd grown another head.

"No. I like this song", he said simply.

"Go listen to it at Amu's house!" Utau commanded.

"But I like it to", Rima said emotionlessly.

"It's better than a lot of stuff you hear out there", Kairi added. Utau felt as though a blood vessel was about to pop in her brain.

"I don't care! I am trying to write a song here!"

"Utau-chan! There are X-eggs again. Lots of them", Eru wailed.

"Alright! Time for some action!" Iru said.

The pop star face palmed. It was as if the entire world was trying to come between her and her career.

With the guardians coming from Seiyo and the Easter Agents coming from their headquarters it was really no surprise when they collided somewhere about fifty meters from the advent agents.

"What are they doing here?" Utau snapped.

"Really, we're back to this, huh pop star? Who put you in a bad mood?" Kukai asked.

"Everyone in the world because no one is letting me write my song in peace! I bet no one bothers Shirogane Miko when she's trying to write a song!" Utau ranted.

"Ohh Miko-chan", Yaya said as if something just clicked in her mind.

"Ace, you know her?" Kairi questioned.

"Who doesn't know her? She's Japan's biggest star!" the girl said earning a glare from Utau. "But that's not what Yaya is talking about. Yaya knows Miko-chan because she's one of Zero-kun's friends", she explained.

"Miko-chan was really pretty and nice, not bitchy like Utau here. And Zero-kun said that Yaya was prettier then Miko-chan and Utau combined!" she continued.

This is where Kairi clenched his fists in frustration. If he heard that guy's name one more time he was going to take out his swords and start cutting people (Well probably not but he was sure thinking about it).

"Anyway", Tadase started. "From what we've all observed there are 3-5 advent agents that will appear at a time. For that reason we should attack them in five directions. In doing that we'll both close them off from the X-eggs and gain an advantage in the fight".

They all just stood there, dumbfounded. "Hey, when did kiddy king grow a brain?" Ikuto questioned. "That punch of mine probably knocked some sense into him".

Tadase was about to say something when Nadeshiko glanced in his direction. She mouthed 'ignore it' and he nodded.

"If we're going through with the guardian's plan then we're going to have to split up into teams of two which shouldn't be hard seeing that you've all paired up so nicely", Kairi noted. The teenagers looked around all making the realization. It was true. Amu and Ikuto, Rima and Nagihiko, Kukai and Utau, and now Tadase and Nadeshiko were all in relationships.

Rima turned to Tadase and looked at him accusingly. "You planned it out like this so you could mess around with her in a bush while we do all the work", the petite blonde said calmly.

"Possible. But that sounds more like Amu and Ikuto nya", Yoru said. Ikuto nodded his approval.

"Laziness and perverted intent? Tadase, I've never been so proud", he was so stunned he had to use the boy's name for once. "But it will be me and Amu in that bush", he added dangerously.

"NO it won't! Hentai cosplay neko!" Amu shouted.

"Besides, if anyone's in a bush it's gonna be Rima and Nagi", Rhythm boasted. "Or me and Dia", he said with a wink.

"R-Rhythm-kun", she said while looking down bashfully.

All eyes turned to the radiant chara in awe as well as accusation.

"WHAT!" Kusu-kusu exploded.

"Dia?" Amu asked in shock. She would've expected this from Miki if anyone.

"ENOUGH ABOUT THE DAMN BUSH! YOU CAN ALL GO IN THERE AND SCREW EACHOTHER SILLY AFTER THE FIGHT BUT I HAVE TO WRITE A SONG DAMMIT!" Utau called, pulling them all back to reality.

"Well in that case", Ikuto said, picking Amu up bridal style as usual "Amu and I will be attacking from the north", he said, and then he carried her into a tree about forty meters away.

"Yo, Nagi we can't let him upstage us like that", Rhythm said. He character changed with Nagihiko and then dragged Rima away in an extremely suggestive manner. She didn't even bother with screaming for him to put her down, not that she wanted him to.

Kukai, Utau, Tadase, and Nadeshiko stared at them incredulously for a minute or so before leaving in their respective directions.

Kairi and Yaya looked at each other. She sighed. "Somehow it always comes down to us huh class prez?" she asked. The boy nodded and smiled a bit. "But not if Zero-kun was a guardian. That would be nice huh class prez?" she asked. His smile completely dissolved leaving his usual expressionless face.

"Yaya-san", Kairi said apprehensively.

"What is it class prez?" she questioned. Her brown eyes were sparkling.

"Don't be too disappointed".

A/N: I'm baaaack! I'm so sorry you guys I really had to focus on school for the past month or so but it paid off! Straight A's! But now I have returned and in the next few chapters the truth about Advent will come out! Read and Review please minna1


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara, nor do I control the passing of time T-T gomen minnasan!

"Kairi! Can't we get this over with? Yaya wants to leave and go see Zero-kun!" the young girl whined from behind the bush they were hiding in. Kairi shook his head. There was absolutely no point in hiding when he was with her.

"Please be patient for a while Ace, we have to wait for Ikuto's signal before we make our move", he explained. Yaya crossed her arms and made a face.

"Yaya doesn't know about Kairi, but Yaya is waiting on Tadase's signal not Mr. Black cat's even if he is Amu-chi's boyfriend. And Yaya wants Tadase to STOP KISSING NA-CHI AND GIVE THE SIGNAL ALREADY! YAYA HAS THINGS TO DO!" she whisper-yelled the last part so it would reach the ears of the guardian's king and queen. Unfortunately, those intended weren't the only ones that heard.

"Yaya-san!" Kairi warned, but it was already too late.

"Who's there?" A voice asked. It was a soft, sweet sound but with an edge of sinister intent behind it. Yaya recognized it at once.

"Miko-chan!" she said happily while running out of the bush to glomp the pop star. "Miko-chan, what are you doing here? You have to leave its not safe. Bad people are running around!" Yaya was fazed when the older girl didn't move, even more so when a group of X-eggs floated down next to her.

Miko smiled sinisterly. "I know Yaya-chan, I know". In one fluid motion, she stretched out her hand and X-egg energy started flowing from it. Yaya covered her face, awaiting a strike that never came.

"Lightning blade!" when she looked up, Kairi was shielding her from the blow.

"C-class prez? W-why?" she tried to ask. He didn't say anything, but he knew the answer. He finally knew what his friends were always rambling about; the need to protect someone. As far as he was concerned, no one would lay a finger on his Yaya.

At this point, Utau jumped down from a nearby tree. She was character transformed with Iru. "Does the great Shirogane Miko subject herself to bullying children?" she taunted. "I'm your opponent", the pop star said while raising her trident.

Miko scoffed while flipping her long black hair. "You're hardly competition, Utau", she said boredly before taking a quick scan of the area. "But I guess you're the best they have to offer anyway". The two singers then engaged in a fierce battle.

In the midst of the fray, advent's red headed female yawned. "Taichi!" she said. "Let's go home". But the boy in question was nowhere to be found. He never was lately…not since he met _her._ Yuki sighed. She was mellow and got bored easily, but could get a bit petty at times. Like now, she had the utmost hatred and envy for someone she'd never seen before. This annoyed her, but at the same time it gave her an idea. Taichi only liked the hot headed ones after all. She scanned the shrubbery nearby.

"Hey, guardian's queens chair! I know you're out there. Come down and fight me…if you have any spine at all", she challenged. Yuki's eyes perked up when she heard a rustling in the treetops. She smirked; so it was true…all queens were prideful. '_Now be a good little girl and take the bait_' she thought. Now it was only a matter of time.

"Hotori-kun, let go of me!" Nadeshiko whined. As much as she liked his hand on her arm, there was no way she was going to back down from a fight.

"It's a trap. Who knows what they're planning to do to you down there", Tadase reasoned. Nade shrugged indifferently.

"We were going to fight them anyway wasn't that the plan _my king_", she said flirtatiously, giving his a playful wink. Tadase rubbed his temples. Why did he think that going out would change anything?

"Don't you think it's a little suspicious that she called you out personally? Nothing good could possibly come of that, she probably studied your techniques. What if something happens to you…again", he argued. Though it went unspoken they both knew what he was talking about. He almost lost her just a few months ago, thanks to a certain petite blonde, and wasn't ready to put her in danger again.

Nadeshiko sighed. "Would you just trust me? I'm a black belt for God's sake! And I have Temari. Don't worry so much, okay?" she said before kissing his cheek and then jumping down to ace her opponent. He shook his head. That girl always did exactly what she wanted, but then again that was part of why he wanted her. The only thing he could do now is wait.

"What an insolent commoner! The nerve of her" Kiseki raged. Temari dismissed him with a devious look.

"Nope, not commoner she's officially the queen now. You're gonna have to find a new adjective", the elegant chara chided. Suddenly something occurred to Tadase.

"WHY ARENT YOU WITH NADESHIKO!" Temari sweat dropped.

"Oh my…excuse me!" she said before rushing after her owner. Kiseki shook his head…she was supposedly the future of his empire.

"Your sister's in a fight again", Rima said casually while resting lazily in a bush. Kusu-kusu giggled while searching for ladybugs.

Nagihiko shrugged apathetically. "When is she not?" he asked. He'd given up hope on her joining the Peace Corps a long time ago.

Rima glanced at him curiously. "And you don't care?" As far as she'd known she was the heartless one in the relationship. Plus, she knew that Nagihiko always had a soft spot for his family…which she indefinitely separated him from. She cringed. Somehow Nadeshiko always led to unpleasant thoughts on her part.

"Is she losing?" Nagihiko asked, trying to disguise his concern. Rima glanced over to the fight idly.

"I wouldn't say she's losing…wouldn't say she's wining either. You know how it is with these martial arts types", she explained as she twirled a blonde hair around her finger.

"Sweet! Nade kicks ass!" Rhythm commented. Suddenly a pained gasp was heard from the direction of the fight and Nagi's head whirled around. He glanced at Rima.

"She got kicked into a tree and hit her head…but she got up", the blonde chuckled. "You really do love your sister", she noted. He simply shrugged, neither denying nor confirming the accusation.

Amu watched the battles rage on with wide teary eyes. "Utau…Nadeshiko", she said. It never occurred to her how dangerous her friends could be. The Nade and Utau she knew carried fans and microphones, not swords and tridents. What worried her more were the opponents they faced. Her friends were working their hardest, but even she with her limited battle experience knew that their foes weren't even trying. She hung her head in resignation. "Why the hell do I have to be so useless?" she cried.

"Because the world is not ready for a dangerous strawberry", Ikuto said. Amu jumped. She almost forgot he was there. His presence was totally miniscule.

"But Nadeshiko-"

"Don't worry about her. Since kiddy king's such a wimp, that girl has enough strength for the both of them", he explained. "Plus, she's Nagi's sister so she has to be dangerous". Amu shook her head. Being her best friend, she knew better than anyone that Nadeshiko wasn't as indestructible as she wanted everyone to believe.

"But what about Utau? You have to be worried about her!" the pinkette tried. He shook his head.

"Utau can take care of herself…she always has", he said cryptically. Amu pouted. This wasn't right. Even Yaya had seen more of the battle than she did.

"So what do we do now?" Amu asked. She knew there had to be something, no matter how small. Ikuto then picked her up bridal style.

"You", he said "are going to cleanse those X-eggs over there, and I am going to make sure you don't get yourself killed", Easter's youngest director explained. Ran Miki Su and Yoru started floating behind the pair.

"Dia, aren't you coming?" Amu asked from her lover's arms. The sparkling chara shook her head, making her little orange pigtails spin. "Amu-chan, I believe that I will be more useful elsewhere this time".

Utau stood panting in front of her rival. Miko seemed completely unfazed by using her character transformation for so long whereas Utau was quickly reaching her limit. "Nightmare Lorelei!" she cried, sending her attack at the other girl. She had to gain the advantage now if she wanted to stand a chance.

Miko stood there, not even bothering to block it. She smirked. It was her turn again. "Black note!" she cried, sending the pop star flying with her negative energy in the form of an eighth note. Iru was knocked right out of her. "Utau-chan, I'm sorry", she said. The devilish chara was spent. Utau was left with a dilemma. Eru was in no way strong enough to even approach an opponent this strong, but she wasn't ready to give up yet. Dia flew up to where she was and smiled brightly.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance", she said. Utau nodded catching on immediately.

"Watashi no kokoro, UNLOCK! Charanari Dark Jewel!" Utau made a fist. She could feel the power flowing through her. This was it! This was what she needed to defeat Miko.

"Are you still playing dress up Utau, or can we do this?" the brunette asked. Utau smirked, and the fight restarted, only this time the foes were done playing games.

Despite the magical girl fight a few feet away, both Nadeshiko and Yuki were yet to transform. "Yuki-chan, let's go", a blue hair chara said, briefly popping out of her pocket, before returning to the safe fabric in fear of the Naginata flying a little too close to her.

"I don't need magic to beat this little skid mark", she said with all boredom intact to her persona.

"Nadeshiko, let's just do it. You're gonna make Tadase worry", Temari warned; though in truth she was just itching to taste battle herself.

"He'll be alright", the dance prodigy said calmly. "I'm not transforming until she does. Now cover yourself, this is about to get nasty". At this time Yuki sheathed her katana and took out a more gruesome weapon. The kusarigama, a sickle attached to a ball and chain, the weapon held even more blood lust than the person who wielded it.

Tadase cringed from the sidelines. He never understood why Nadeshiko had to get herself in to these things. He silently freaked out while he thought of the damage that thing could do to her. Words could not describe how badly he wanted to drag her away by that pony tail of hers, but he cared for her enough to respect her wishes, even though they were completely parallel to his at this point.

"Yuki! What the hell are you doing to my favorite girl!" the words cut the read head like a hot knife through butter. How could he possibly say that to her?

"T-Taichi?" she questioned. She dropped her weapon to the floor and tears welled up in her eyes. The boy brushed past her like she was invisible.

"Nadeshiko-chan", he said softly, grabbing the queen's chair by her waist.

"Taichi, get off me!" she demanded. She could practically feel Tadase's eyes on them.

"Aww but it was alright yesterday", he teased. "You're all tense from the fight, huh. How 'bout a kiss?"

"N-no! I have a boyfri-" Nadeshiko's reply was muffled as his lips crashed on hers and his tongue entered her mouth. She felt several things in the next few seconds, fear, remorse, shock. But in the end she couldn't deny that a small, but incredibly stupid part of her liked it. Not that she'd let anyone know that.

"Get the hell off my girlfriend!" Tadase shouted. His very being was ablaze with anger. Nadeshiko pushed Taichi off her, and stepped behind Tadase. Taichi smirked.

"Kings chair: Hotori Tadase. We finally meet. I guess it's only fair for you to see the person who is ruining your life…before I end it".

"What are you talking about?" he asked. This boy kissing Nadeshiko was annoying…vexing at most, but he knew she was true to him. That couldn't possibly be considered ruining someone's life.

"Too weeks ago today, I met a pretty girl at a party on Osaka beach after making quick work of some losers. She was preoccupied at first, concerned about a sick boyfriend if I recall, but by the end of the night she couldn't remember his name".

Nadeshiko looked down. This was the one time she hoped Tadase's obliviousness was still intact. "I'm still not getting the point", he said. Nadeshiko gave a sigh of relief. She was in the clear.

"I wasn't finished", Taichi said. "A day later I was called in on a mission; an assassination. I had to get rid of a certain school chairman. Looked a bit like you actually. I think his name was…Amakawa Tsukasa", the boy smirked evilly. Nadeshiko's blood ran completely cold. She always made such a big deal about loyalty, all the while she'd been consorting with their greatest enemy.

Tadase stayed quiet. He needed a moment to process all of this. It took all this for him to realize, his fight with Easter had been utterly stupid. He never loathed Tsukiyomi Ikuto. Not once in his life had he experienced hatred until this moment.

"So what are you going to do, fight me?" Taichi asked. He wanted to finish this.

Tadase nodded. "Kiseki", he said. The _Holy Saber_ appeared in his hand. Taichi nodded. This would take two, three minutes tops.

"Alright prince, let's make this interesting then. Whoever wins comes out alive, and…gets Nadeshiko" Taichi said.

"I understand".

"Hotori-kun, please", Nadeshiko begged. She never saw Taichi fight, but she could tell from his haughtiness that he was stronger. She couldn't stand the thought of him getting hurt. She grabbed his arm. "Please, please don't do this", she said. He gave her a long, sad look.

"Be quiet", he said. "I let you have your fights now let me have mine". There was no way she could have argued without threatening his masculinity. She sighed, nodded, and stepped back.

"J-just don't die alright", she said while blinking back the tears. She didn't know she was gonna react like that.

"Not so easy to be on this side of the looking glass huh?" Temari asked. Nadeshiko gave her a questioning glance. "Sometimes it's harder watching than it is fighting", the wise chara said.

Utau and Miko continued circling each other. "Glitter particle!" Utau shouted. Now fortified by Dia, she actually stood a chance. Now Miko was getting annoyed. She harnessed all the X-egg energy she had and let it flow into her body. She smiled, satisfied. That would be enough for about five more attacks but then…

"Yo"

The pop star's head whirled around "Zero-kun!" she said. All the X-energy shot out of her body and into Utau. It all happened so fast she didn't even get a chance to scream. In less than a second, Kukai was by her side.

"Utau", he said. "Utau, are you alright?" he tried to pick her up.

"Stop it", she snapped. "I'm fine". She sat up; though fell back to the ground immediately after. Sharp pains were stabbing her abdomen. She clutched her ribs in pain.

"Utau!" "Utau-chan!" Iru and Eru flew towards her crying frantically. She glared at them. "I said I'm fine!" she snapped but then brought her hands to her mouth. As she coughed blood slipped through her fingers. This was more than Kukai could take. He picked her up in his arms and started walking off.

"P-put me down! Where are you taking me?" she demanded. He left a long kiss on her forehead.

"Far away from here pop star", he said. It didn't sit right with him leaving the guardians at a time like this, but a guy had to set his priorities somewhere.

A/N: So…did you like it? Review please people. Tell me what you want to hear. I'm going to try to update again before


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara!

"Ikuto!" Amu said as she was dragged further away from the fight. She didn't like the idea of leaving Dia so far from her and was worried about her friends. "Ikuto put me down!" she demanded.

"Amu, you don't have any experience with this kind of thing. It's better if you don't see what's happening," he explained calmly as they got out park and reached the city limits. Amu crossed her arms and pouted. She hated when he underestimated her like this.

"Don't patronize Amu-chan!" Miki said. Yoru stared at her blankly and she smirked.

"It means to treat someone as if he or she is less intelligent or knowledgeable than yourself; you really should consider enhancing your vocabulary."

"Shut it nya. And stop _patronizing _me nya before I have to shut you up again," he said.

Miki scoffed. "Just try it." And with that she was dragged off into a nearby bush.

"Call me when you need me Ikuto-nya," Yoru said. Ikuto waved him off, still carrying Amu in the opposite direction.

"Go go at it! Yay!" Ran said. Evidentially, the exceedingly pink chara only had a slight idea of what she was saying...as usual.

"Oh my desu!" Su said. Amu shook her head, pink hair getting in her face as a result. Amu shook her head.

"Where do they get these things from?"

"From me," Ikuto said. He put her down as they came closer to the city. Several people were crowded around a building and news crew was setting up not too far away.

"I wonder what's going on," Amu said.

"It's terrible" a woman said. "Some little girl is gonna kill herself. She's in a trance or something nobody can reach her. Poor thing," she commented.

"Nani?"

"Amu-chan look!" Ran said. Behind the girl on the edge of the tower floated a black egg with a red X going through the middle.

"X-egg," Ikuto commented. "Yoru is never around when you need him, but that's strange," he said.

"What is desu?" Su questioned.

"X-eggs usually have white X's this one is red," he explained.

"Never mind that desu! We have to save her!" Su chimed. Amu nodded.

"Ran!" she said.

"Amu, no it's too dangerous" Ikuto said.

"Charanari Amulet Heart!" she said, ignoring her boyfriend completely. A life was at stake. There was no room for him to be overprotective. Amu sped to the roof to where the girl stood, still far too close to the edge. She stood behind a metal antenna, trying to assess the situation fully.

"Useless!" the egg chanted. "It's useless. So die DIE **DIE!**" Amu recoiled in horror. The X-eggs that were described to her were never this gruesome. They seemed to be more annoying than anything else. The pinkette shuttered, wishing that Utau or Nadeshiko could be there with her. She shook the thought out of her head. They were fighting their own battles, but this one was hers.

"It's not useless!" Amu shouted. "Life is something precious! You can't just throw your life away! Everyone will miss you, and it throws away human potential!" This time the girl turned to her, eyes as blood red as the mysterious X-egg.

"What do you know?" she asked while pointing an accusatory finger. "What does anyone know about me? I'm a failure! Nobody wants me! What can you really tell me about being useless?"

"USELESS!" The crazed egg grew bigger, and the blood red encompassed the entire surface. The girl stepped closer to the edge. "It's going to end now," she said.

"No!" Amu shouted. She grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her back. "I of all people know how you feel. My friends are all perfect, my little sister is a prodigy at everything, my boyfriend's the head of the company and I…I'm just there. Sometimes I feel really worthless too, but I don't give up!" she said.

"Why?" the girl questioned.

"Because one day the people who are important to me might need me too and if I'm not there for them then after everything they did for me then I really would be useless. Is that what you want?" Amu asked harshly.

"W-when they need me?" the girl said perplexed as the X reappeared on the egg.

"Amu-chan, now" Ran instructed. Amu nodded and planted her feet sturdily in the ground.

"Negative heart: Lock on! OPEN HEART!" she called as the beam encased the wayward egg. The blood was drained from the egg, creating a puddle on the floor, and it returned to the girl's heart.

"Arigato Amu-chan," it whispered on its way in. Amu sank to the floor, utterly exhausted and panted.

"Amu-chan, you were amazing!" Ran cheered.

"Y-you too," the pinkette gasped.

"It's was a masterpiece! I have to record it artistically somehow," Miki said, taking out a pencil and paper. She and Yoru had returned moments before.

"It's a shame Dia didn't see it desu" Su said dejectedly. Amu's eyes shot open.

"Dia! Where is she anyway?" she asked. Ikuto scooped her up once again.

"Come on strawberry," he said. "I guess I have to get you home…since I'm your boyfriend now," he reminded her with a satisfied smirk.

"Wait what IKUTO!"

"Young love desu," the domestic chara gushed as they floated behind the strange couple.

Utau rolled over in bed and groaned. She felt like she'd been run over by a truck…repeatedly, and was taken by surprise that she wasn't actually in her bed. She looked down and saw that her wounds were wrapped in gauze, and quite skillfully I might add. "What is this?" she asked groggily, attempting to sit up. The door swung open, and in walked none other than Kukai.

"Oh you're up," he said. "It's about time; you've been out for hours."

"Wait…where is this?" she asked. He looked at her strangely.

"You're in my room," he explained. A tell tale blush crept its way onto her face, and she bit her lip. She wasn't exactly easily flustered, but there were limits to nonchalance.

"A-and who did this?" she asked, motioning to the bandages covering her body. They hadn't even sorted the nature of their relationship so it was far too early for him to be feeling her up while she wasn't conscious.

"My brother Shushi, he's studying to be a doctor so it's alright. Besides, if he tried anything I would kick his ass! So how are ya feeling pop star?" he asked.

"I'm fine", she said crisply. Her eyes bulged out of her head when she saw the black and yellow egg resting by her bedside. She thought that the chara would have long gone back to Amu. "Kukai…can you give me a minute?" she asked. There was something she most definitely had to sort out.

"Sure," said the athlete. "I'll be out back. If you need me just text," he informed before leaving to see his first love…soccer. Utau shook her head and smiled fondly, she was being cheated on with a sport.

"Utau?" Dia asked, popping out of the egg. "Utau? Are you well?"

She nodded. "Hai…where's Eru and Iru?"

"Still sleeping," the radiant chara said. Utau nodded, they all had reason to be exhausted. She stared at the miniscule being. She'd had a perplexing question on her mind for weeks now.

"Dia…you're the strongest one. Why does Amu never use you?"

Dia looked down sadly. "Amu-chan does not see me, because she doesn't need me at this time. She had no desire for her radiance…so I might disappear soon," she admitted.

"The stupid bitch" Utau started, but stopped herself. Name calling wouldn't fix the situation…well at least not this time. "Anyway, did you tell Amu?" Dia shook her head.

"Sympathizing doesn't equate to understanding," she sighed. "And it's a shame. You'll all need every chara you can get. There's a storm coming," the wise chara explained.

"Really?" Utau asked.

"Hai, a new breed of the things you call X-eggs, and these are more deadly than any that came before. These ones don't just destroy dreams, they destroy lives themselves. We can't allow anyone to die!" she said. Utau nodded.

"This is serious," she affirmed. "But how do you know about it?"

"I am still a part of Amu-chan. What happens to her happens to me. She has already experienced them."

"Advent is responsible for this, isn't it?" the pop star asked. Dia nodded. "Shirogane Miko is a strong enemy. Iru and Eru aren't on her charas level and Amu-chan isn't on hers", Utau continued.

"The two of us should collaborate," Dia said. "At least for the time being."

Utau smirked. "Then that's what we'll do. If Amu has a problem, I'll deal with it." The pop star was pleased with herself. They would be the strongest team anyone has ever seen.

Back on the battlefield (the park) the temporarily combined forces of the guardians and Easter fought tirelessly against advent. Yaya sighed as she picked randomly at stems of grass. Rima had picked up the fight with Miko after Utau left, though it was nothing more than a sparring session at this point. Though as ruthless as they come, Miko was averse to picking on people a great deal younger, or shorter than her. She was simply wasting time on the petite blonde. Nadeshiko continued her fight with that Yuki person, though she was losing momentum due to looking back to see if Taichi killed Tadase yet. Yaya pitied her. This must've been murderous on her nerves.

The ginger haired girl knew the feeling firsthand. Watching Zero and Kairi fight was torture. She was scared for both of them, and didn't know who to be mad at or concerned about. She knew that Zero was wrong, but that didn't stop her from caring about him. If it did she would be callous, and that's something a baby could never be. Nagihiko was fighting a black haired boy and they seemed to be on equal footing. It was by far the most interesting altercation to observe. Suddenly, the advent agent's phones beeped three times in synchronization and they retreated from their respective fights.

"Sorry", Miko said with a wave. "But we've got bigger fish to fry." And with that they left, leaving many questions and few answers behind.

A/N: Hey everybody! I know it's been a while, but I'm excited to say that "Her Deadly Neutrality" is nowhere near over. If you haven't already guessed a new arc is beginning to unfold. If anyone has any suggestions or requests please let me know. Read and Review please, and sorry for the wait. Forgive me please?


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara. It would be pretty evident if I did.

After taking her shower, drinking her nightly glass of milk, and putting on her warm flannel pajamas Amu kneeled on her bed. No amount of attempting to return to normalcy would quell the unsettled feeling in her soul. She had seen vividly disturbing things and had no way to return herself to innocence. _What power_, she wondered, _could force a person to attempt to fling himself from a rooftop? _She shuttered, coming up with an answer. The Advent cooperation made the previously evil Easter seem like child's play.

"Amu-chan!" Miki shouted. The pinkette looked up, startled. "Hold that pose! The angst! The emotion! It's a goldmine to my aesthetic perspective," said the artistic chara. She scribbled like mad onto that blue notepad of hers. Amu sighed, emotionally drained from the day's events. Ran floated up to her bearer's face waving pink pompoms in her personal space.

"Cheer up Amu-chan!" she said. Amu slowly raised her eyes.

"Ran," she said slowly. "You probably don't really understand what happened today. That's okay but-"

"Amu-chan we understand! Probably better than you do. Bad people are going to have power, that's why the good guys have power to stop them! Don't sulk over what almost happened; just be glad that you stopped it! That's why Ikuto and the guardians, and the new Easter, and Miki, Su, Dia and me are here to help you! So believe in yourself Amu-chan!" the excessively pink chara said.

"Ran," Amu said, amazed at how deeply they were connected.

"She sounds like Dia-desu," Su commented.

"Where is Dia anyway?" Miki asked. Amu waved off her charas warnings turned off the lights.

"You know how she likes to wander off. Dia will come back. She always does."

The next morning, the guardians met in the royal garden as usual. However, it was not at all a day for the usual pleasantries. Though Kukai and Yaya still fooled around like they were still in elementary, and Tadase and Nadeshiko still made eyes at each other between filing papers there was a pregnant solemnity in the air that rose to a crescendo with the arrival of Amu. The pinkette sat down in her seat and crossed her legs, more businesslike than ever before.

"Yesterday evening," she started. "You were all fighting advent agents, but Ikuto and I found out that your fights were just a decoy for something bigger."

Yaya, who flinched at the mention of Advent, raised her hand eagerly. "What was bigger Amu-chi? Was it a giant hot fudge sundae?" she asked. Kiseki shook his royal head.

"Where does she get these ideas? And it the presence of a king!" he said, appalled.

"She is only a child," Temari chided from behind her elegant kimono.

Su cleared her throat sternly. "As Amu-chan was saying!"

"Thank you Su. We encountered a large X-egg that was red where the black usually is. It was on a roof a-and," her voice cracked slightly. "It was trying to get the girl it belonged to, to j-jump off." A somber silence ensued as the guardians took in the news.

"Amu-chan, are you sure?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Positive."

"How did Amu-chi fix it?" Yaya asked. "You did save the egg, right Amu-chi?" she questioned, eyes welling up with tears.

"Yes, of course," Amu said in what she hoped to be a reassuring and mothering tone. "I have an attack called Open Heart, I think. It purified the egg."

"In that case," Tadase started. "We should probably increase our monitoring of X-eggs in the area so that Amu-chan can intercept."

"That's not enough!" Kukai interjected. "Sure we can save a few people in the area but what about kids back in Osaka and Nara? Or even in America? Advent is a fucking huge company we can't just expect to go around erasing all the evil! The only way to get rid of them is to crush them at the root!"

"And how do you expect to do that?" Tadase asked.

"I don't know! You're the strategist aren't you? Think of something! People are dying out there! If Nagihiko were still here-" the soccer star began.

"Let's not take it there," Nadeshiko said, surveying her nails in a ladylike manner. "Getting angry won't solve anything. Besides, I don't think Amu-chan was finished," she said, giving her friend a sweet smile.

"R-right," Amu said shakily. She was still terrible at giving speeches and making motions. "You guys probably won't like this too much but I t-think we should join forces with Easter, at least for the time being. With twice the people helping we can at least cover more ground."

Nadeshiko closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "She's right."

"Nani?" Kukai and Yaya said in harmony. They would have expected the Queen's chair to be the most reluctant.

"N-Na-chi, are you feeling alright?" Yaya asked, wide eyed.

"Don't look at me like that. What do you expect me to say? These guys from Advent have no boundaries. They had teenagers kill off two major figures, and from what I gather they've only been sending underlings so far. Easter as a whole is strong, a lot stronger than us. I'm not saying we're all gonna magically become best friends, but we need them. I'll despise them and their way of doing things all I'd like but no one is going to lose their lives over our scruples. Do you agree?" she asked.

Silence. You could literally hear a pin drop in the royal garden (Yaya had dropped one to test the theory) as Nadeshiko made a royal decree worthy of a Victorian monarch.

"Well then," Tadase said with a small smile. "The Queen has spoken. Let's go by it."

"Yes!" Amu exclaimed. Though under horrid circumstances, she was finally getting what she wanted. An alliance. The only thing left was to get Easter to agree, and with Ikuto as their new leader it would be a cakewalk. Everything seemed to finally be falling into place.

Daichi floated into the garden casually. "Yo," said the athletic chara. Ran narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Just watching after Utau and Dia like Kukai said. He was worried they'd try and fight again."

"Dia?" Amu asked. "Fighting? And what's she doing with Utau?"

"Oh no one told you? Dia said she's Utau's chara now," Daichi said. Kukai, at this point was sweating profusely and searching desperately for a way out of this awkward situation.

"No," Amu said crossly. "I wasn't informed." She stood up from the table and put on her bag. She apparently wasn't going to attend classes today.

"Where are you going Amu-chi?" Yaya asked. The darkest aura anyone thought she was capable of came out of Amu.

"I'm getting my chara back. Are you guys coming?" she asked in the cool and spicy voice.

"Hai! Yaya wants to see this!"

"Ehehe maybe we should all calm down," Kukai suggested.

Tadase and Nadeshiko shared a look that meant although they'd much rather make out on a table somewhere as usual they would have to chaperone.

"Well, at least we can make the arrangements," Tadase pointed out.

"True." And with that the guardians made their way to the nearest train station.

"Glitter particle!" Utau cried, practicing her joint attack with Dia on a target in her team's gym. They had successfully created a sizeable hole in the wall. Utau smiled pleasantly and undid the transformation. "Okay," she panted, stroking X-Dia's blonde hair. "That's enough for the day."

"We should take a break and then go to the studio downstairs. You haven't gotten a chance to record your new song, right?" Dia asked. Utau smirked; how naïve Amu had been. Dia wasn't only the most powerful chara; she was also a genius at time management.

"Shouldn't you be lying down?" A certain black cat asked as he entered the room. "I heard you got pretty banged up the other day."

"Don't act concerned when it's convenient Ikuto!" she snapped. "I'm busy, and besides I was about to take a break."

Ikuto looked at Dia, scarcely recognizing her in her new form. "Isn't that Amu's chara?"

The pop star shrugged. "What of it?"

"Utau," he said sternly. "Give it back. I thought Amu was your friend."

"Stay out of it Ikuto! I didn't steal her, she came. Besides…Amu is weak, it's for the better."

The black cat yawned indolently. "Alright then, tell her that. She'll be he in four…three…two…"

"UTAU GIVE ME BACK DIA!"

"Told ya' nya," Yoru quipped.

Amu's hair was messy, coming out of her X clips from running and her cheeks were as pink as her hair. Suddenly they heard a 'ding' and the remaining four guardians stepped out of an elevator.

"Amu, why'd you run up twelve flights of stairs?" Ikuto questioned, an amused smirk pulled at his lips.

"For real Hinamori, you could have just taken the elevator," Kukai said. Amu twitched.

"There was an elevator? RAN!" she screamed, turning even redder than before. She took a long deep breath. "Anyway, this was really funny and all but I'm just going to take my chara and go home."

Dia floated out from behind Utau's pigtails. Amu gasped at her appearance. "I no longer belong to you, Amu," she said austerely.

"Utau! Is that an X? What did you do to my chara?" the pinkette demanded. Utau chuckled softly, shaking her head at a private joke.

"If you would listen to her for a minute you would have heard that she wasn't yours. You never heard her voice, that's why she ran away from you," she said harshly. Tears began to well up in Amu's eyes. The helpless feeling was upon her once again.

"She's crying. Utau that's enough!" Kukai said.

She scoffed. "Enough of what? The truth. Listen I'm fair. I'll give you a chance to win her back."

Amu wiped the forthcoming tears from her eyes. "How?" she questioned.

"All you have to do is beat me in a fight. You and your strongest chara against me and Dia. Right here, right now. Take it or leave it."

"That's unfair-desu! Amu-chan is new to this; she didn't even have a chance to train-desu!"

"Take it. Or leave it." The blonde pop star repeated.

Amu's golden eyes narrowed. "RAN!" she called. "Charanari Amulet Heart!"

Utau could feel Dia's rage pulsate next to her. Why couldn't Amu see it? This was exactly why she left. Why she HAD to leave. _It's okay Dia_ she thought, _I'll fight for you. _"Dia," the pop star said sweetly. "Charanari Dark Jewel!"

The two girls stood face to face. "Since you're a beginner," Utau said "I'll give you a handicap. You get one free hit. I won't block it. You can even kill me if you feel like it. Just do what you can." She said smugly, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Amu summoned her heart rods, getting ready to throw them but then she looked, truly looked at Utau. The girl was one of her best friends. She could never raise a hand to Utau even if her life depended on it. And more so, she was with Dia. No matter what the chara was going through she was still a part of her. Striking Dia was basically hitting her dreams. She couldn't do that – not as a guardian, and not as a person. She dropped the rods and fell to her knees.

"Amu!" Ikuto said.

"Don't interfere," advised Kairi who had walked in a few moments after the guardians did.

"Pathetic," Utau commented. "You had your chance. Now it's my turn. SHINING BLACK!" Amu braced herself as sharp fragments of black diamonds came shooting out of her hands. In a split second six bowling pins shot out to intercept the attack and Ikuto had jumped in, took Amu into his arms, and escaped to the other end of the room.

"Juggling Party" Rima said softly as the pins returned to her hands.

"You can't leave for fifteen minutes," Nagihiko commented as he entered the room after her.

"Utau, you've had your fun. Stop playing with Amu and give her back her chara. If you were supposed to have Dia you would have gotten her in the first place," Rima said.

Utau clasped her hands together. She was going to explain this once and for all. "Look around people. We're in a war. What's the use of having a strong chara, forget that ANY chara that you don't use. In both groups, when it comes to fighting only half of us can hold our own. That's Ikuto, Nagi, Nadeshiko, Kukai and I. We have to do what we can to crush Advent from the core."

"That's what I said!" Kukai complained. Kairi pushed his glasses up on his face.

"The notion brought up by Hoshina-san is correct. Primarily, Mashiro-san and Hotori-san have defensive attacks. Hinamori-san's abilities are centered around purifying X-eggs, and I myself work mainly in Intel. The other five are more suited for combat."

"What about Yaya?" the brown haired girl asked. No one seemed to average her in to their plans.

"You're the distraction," Kukai said.

"Okay…HEY! I know what that means. YAYA IS NOT USELESS!"

"If it help's you're a very cute distraction Ace," Kairi said, blushing lightly.

"Call me Yaya!" She giggled, twisting her foot in the ground bashfully.

"Eru senses four love bars!" Soon the tension of the situation diffused to almost nothing and friendly chatter began once again.

"So are we all good with the new arrangement?" Utau asked. There was a chorus of 'whatever's', 'yea's' and a single 'when do we eat.' At this time, Amu bolted from the room, this time unable to hold in her tears. Ikuto and Nadeshiko both made moves to go after her but Rima stood in front of them, blocking the path.

"You two cannot help her right now. You've both always been on the strong side of the equation. You have no idea how she feels. Anything you say will just hurt her more," she explained. "I'll go."

Before leaving, Rima made a point of stomping on Nadeshiko's foot with all her might. "And I am still Amu's best friend," she said before slamming the door.

"I hate that bitch," Nade murmured, rubbing her now swollen instep.

Out in the hallway, Amu was crying curled up in the ever popular ball formation. Rima shook her head. "What have I been teaching her?" she wondered out loud. She kneeled down in front of her friend, laying her hands on her knees. "Amu," she said sweetly. "Why are you really crying?"

"I-I can't do a-anything," the pinkette said between sobs.

"So? Freeloaders have all the fun."

"Rima!" Kusu-kusu chuckled.

"I know how you feel," she explained. "I feel like that every day. I depend on Nagihiko and Utau and Kairi and Ikuto to do things for me. At first it was really annoying and I wanted to change and be more self sufficient. But then I realized they wouldn't always be so eager to help me if I didn't give them anything in return."

"Y-you can do that Rima, but I can't. If you needed to you c-could always come back and p-protect them but-"

"Stop with the self pity! I'm less than five feet tall! If I can find strength to take care of the people I actually give a damn about you should have a long time ago. You have six inches, twenty-five lbs, and three charas on me. Find your strength Amu-chan. Then everything will fall into place."

"Rima," Amu said, the last of the tears drying up on her face. "Arigato!"

"Yeah whatever, if you tell anyone all the nice things I said I'll make you sip your spleen through a bendy straw." The clown like girl warned before heading back inside.

A/N: Spring Break=Writing Season? I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Read Review and please enjoy! Thanks for not giving up on me and this story. Love y'all!


End file.
